Panthers rally in regional


Maddie Fellinger of Monticello works around a Tipton defender in the regional quarterfinal game Feb. 9 in Monticello. (Photos by Pete Temple)

Sydney Hansen of the Panthers shoots from close range against Tipton Saturday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Sports Editor

     Monticello trailed for most of the first quarter, but once the Panthers found their stride, they took control and scored a 50-42 victory over Tipton in the quarterfinal round of the Class 3A, Region 4 Girls Basketball Tournament.

     The postseason win sent the Panthers to a semifinal game against Davenport Assumption, to be held Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7 p.m. at Assumption in Davenport.

     Much like Monticello’s first meeting with Tipton, when the Panthers found themselves trailing 10-2, the Tigers jumped to an 8-0 lead in this one, and it took the Panthers until the last minute of the first half to catch up.

     “I think at first we were a little passive and were not playing our game,” Monticello coach Donnie Kremer said. “We switched up some people and the subs did a nice job of getting us going.”

     One of those was Gabrielle Steiner, who came off the bench to lead the Panthers in scoring with 13 points. Carly Hayen had six first half points to help Monticello overcome the early deficit.

     “You could look at many individuals, but Gabrielle Steiner, Emily Schlarmann and Carly Hayen stood out in my mind,” Kremer said. “Carly Hayen definitely stepped up in the first quarter to help get us going.”

     Monticello (12-6) trailed 14-10 after one quarter and 19-14 midway through the second, but chipped its way back, and Jordan Kuper’s offensive put-back tied the score 23-23 with 50 seconds left in the half. That score held up into halftime.

     The Panthers took their first lead on a layup by Kuper off a pass from Tori McDonald. Twice in the third quarter, Gabrielle Steiner scored on backdoor passes from Kuper and was fouled.

     “Our inside game has been the key all year for us,” Kremer said. “If we get things going inside, it opens up our outside game. I thought we did a good job of finding the open person inside, and they attacked very well.”

     Still, Tipton hung in the game, and trailed just 34-32 with one quarter to play.

     A three-point basket by Maddie Fellinger gave Monticello a 42-36 lead with 4:07 to play. The Tigers stayed close at 44-40 into the final minute and a half, but a bank shot by Steiner and a basket by Sydney Hansen off a pass from McDonald pushed the margin to 48-40 with 46 seconds to go.

     After Tipton cut the lead to 48-42, two free throws by Steiner with 7.3 seconds left pushed the lead back to eight and sealed the win.

     “I thought we did a much better job defending in the second half, and executing the offense down the stretch,” the coach said.

     In addition to her 13 points, Steiner had five rebounds and three assists. Kuper had 12 points and eight rebounds. McDonald finished with five assists and four steals.

 

Panthers top Anamosa

     Prior to the regional game, Monticello closed its regular season with a 44-38 home win over Rival Anamosa. The Panthers trailed 23-20 at halftime, but outscored the Blue Raiders 24-15 in the second half to take over the game.

     “We made a couple of adjustments in our defense and tried to limit Taylor Hinz (22 points for Anamosa) from getting wide open shots. In the fourth quarter we went man (on defense) and you could see that wore them down.”

     After two Anamosa free throws, Monticello held a 39-38 lead with 2:29 to play, then outscored the Blue Raiders 5-0 the rest of the way. A layup by Maddie Fellinger made it a three-point lead with 2:22 left, and Fellinger then sank two free throws with 42.1 seconds left to make it a 43-38 lead.

     The ball went out of bounds after an Anamosa miss with 27.2 to play, and Tori McDonald was fouled, making one of two free throws with 13.7 left to round out the scoring.

     Fellinger was 3-for-6 from three-point range and totaled 13 points and four rebounds. Jordan Kuper had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while also contributing four assists and three steals. Sydney Hansen added eight points. McDonald had five assists.

     Monticello finished with a River Valley Conference record of 10-6.

 

Feb. 4

Anamosa  12 11   9   6 – 38

Monti         14   6 14 10 – 44

     ANAMOSA (38) – Taylor Hinz 9-18 0-0 22, Maggie McQuillen 0-1 0-0 0, Michaela Meade 1-5 0-0 2, Madalyn Heims 1-5 1-4 3, Taylor Zumbach 3-9 2-3 9, Alexa Jess 1-4 0-0 2, Grace Lubben 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-42 3-7 38.

     MONTICELLO (44) – Tori McDonald 0-1 1-2 1, Maddie Fellinger 4-7 2-2 13, Sydney Hansen 3-5 2-6 8, Karli Recker 1-6 0-2 2, Jordan Kuper 5-10 1-4 11, Gabrielle Guilford 2-3 0-2 4, Gabrielle Steiner 1-3 0-0 3, Carly Hayen 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 17-38 6-18 44.

     Three-pointers: Hinz 4, Zumbach; Fellinger 3, Steiner.

     Rebounds: Monticello 28 (Kuper 10), Anamosa 19.

     Total fouls: Anamosa 19, Monticello 11.

 

Feb. 9

Class 3A Regional

Quarterfinal

(at Monticello)

Tipton  12 11   9 10 – 42

Monti   10 13 11 16 – 50

     MONTICELLO (50) – Tori McDonald 0-3 0-2 0, Maddie Fellinger 3-6 1-3 8, Sydney Hansen 2-4 0-0 4, Karli Recker 2-4 0-2 5, Jordan Kuper 5-15 2-2 12, Gabrielle Steiner 5-8 3-3 13, Carly Hayen 3-6 0-1 6, Emily Schlarmann 1-2 0-0 2, Gabrielle Guilford 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 6-13 50.

     Three-pointers: Fellinger, K. Recker.

     Rebounds: Monticello 29 (Kuper 8, Steiner 5).

     Total fouls: Monticello 11.

 

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