Panthers work back to .500 before falling

     Monticello won a pair of boys basketball games to get to the .500 mark on the season last week, before losing the final game of the week to slip to 8-9, including 6-8 in the River Valley Conference.

     The two wins were both on the road: 67-47 at North Cedar Jan. 23, and 52-49 at Maquoketa Valley, in a non-conference game Jan. 25. The loss came at home against Durant, by a score of 64-45, on Friday, Jan. 26.

     Kyle Sperfslage lit up the scoreboard with 26 points in the win at North Cedar Tuesday, including 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

     “That was probably the best game Kyle’s ever had,” Lambert said. “He played with an incredible motor that night.”

     Alex Nealson added 13 points, Avery Martensen had seven, and Luke Lambert scored six.

     Monticello had a huge rebounding advantage, 31-10, led by Nealson with 10 (to complete a double-double), and Sperfslage with six.

     Jacob Manternach and Luke Lambert had five assists apiece. Nealson blocked three shots.

     Monticello led 29-27 at halftime, but broke the game open with a 30-14 third quarter edge, to lead 59-41.

     “When we play hard like that, we’re real competitive and fun to watch,” Lambert said. “We just need to do that more consistently.”

     The Panthers ran up against a feisty Maquoketa Valley team Thursday night in Delhi. Monticello opened a 33-24 lead by halftime, but the Wildcats came back. Led by Tyson Tucker’s 25 points, including 5-for-5 from three-point range, MV was in the game until the end.

     “Maquoketa Valley is a senior-heavy team, and they really battle,” Lambert said. “I was impressed with how hard they played. We made the big plays down the stretch that we needed to win.”

     Monticello led 49-47 with 13.7 seconds left. A free throw gave the Panthers a 50-47 lead, and then a turnover and a pair of free throws by Alex Nealson with 3.9 seconds left sealed it.

     Nealson finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, and blocked three shots. Jacob Manternach scored 13 and had six assists.

     “Jake and Alex finished well inside,” the coach said. “They did a great job finishing and getting each other shots.”

     It didn’t go as well Friday, Jan. 26 in a home game against Durant. The Panthers led 16-11 after the first quarter and trailed 28-21 after two, but were outscored 36-24 in the second half to lose by 19.

     Coach Lambert said Alex Nealson, who finished with 18 points, was a big factor in the first half.

     “We got off to a good start,” the coach said. “They couldn’t guard Alex inside. Once Durant started pressing, we couldn’t run our offensive sets.

     “Durant probably has the best guards we’ve seen all year, other than (those at) North Linn, and their press really bothered us. I thought all of our young guys looked rattled. They’ve got to learn to have more composure and be aggressive.”

     Sperfslage added 13 points for the Panthers. Jacob Manternach had five points and eight rebounds.

Jan. 23

Monti      10 19 30   8 – 67

N. Cedar 11 16 14   6 – 47

     MONTICELLO (67) – Jacob Manternach 2-4 1-2 5, Connor Lambert 1-4 0-0 3, Justin Recker 2-6 1-1 5, Alex Nealson 6-12 1-2 13, Kyle Sperfslage 7-13 8-10 26, Avery Martensen 3-4 0-2 7, Luke Lambert 2-2 1-2 6, Ryan Manternach 0-0 0-0 0, Mason Kraus 1-1 0-0 2, T.J. Nealson 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 0-0 0-0 0, Gavin Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison Eastburn 0-0 0-0 0, Will Rieniets 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-46 12-20 67.

     NORTH CEDAR (47) – Mason Minar 1-7 6-10 8, Ethan Sahr 4-9 0-0 10, Greg Hansen 3-6 0-0 6, Owen Meyer 4-6 1-1 9, Alex Woodward 2-2 1-2 7, Brady Lehrman 2-4 0-0 5, Caden Wendt 1-2 0-0 2, Jon Scheer 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Thimmes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-37 8-13 47.

     Three-pointers: Sperfslage 4, C. Lambert, Martensen, L. Lambert;

     Rebounds: Monticello 31 (Nealson 10, Sperfslage 6), North Cedar 10.

     Total fouls: Monticello 14, North Cedar 14.

Jan. 25

Monti     23 10 10   9 – 52

Maq. V.  14 10 17   8 – 49

     MONTICELLO (52) – Jacob Manternach 4-8 5-6 13, Luke Lambert 1-2 0-0 2, Justin Recker 3-7 0-2 6, Alex Nealson 6-12 3-5 15, Kyle Sperfslage 4-6 1-2 9, Avery Martensen 2-3 0-0 4, Connor Lambert 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 21-42 9-15 52.

     MAQUOKETA VALLEY (49) – Tyson Tucker 9-11 2-2 25, Cole Willenbring 0-3 0-0 0, Andrew Holtz 1-3 4-4 6, Trevor Elgin 3-8 4-4 11, Heath Gibbs 1-3 1-2 3, Brian Heims 2-3 0-0 4, Blake Becker 0-1 0-0 0.

     Three-pointers: C. Lambert; Tucker 5, Elgin.

     Rebounds: Maquoketa Valley 22 (Gibbs 7, Heims 5), Monticello 18 (Nealson 11).

     Total fouls: Maquoketa Valley 18, Monticello 15.

Jan. 26

Durant   11 17 19 17 – 64

Monti     16    5 17   7 – 45

     DURANT (64) – Mason Compton 4-6 2-2 12, Easton Botkins 8-12 0-0 20, Marcus Engstler 0-2 1-2 1, Bryce LaFrenz 6-9 4-5 16, Curtis Lillenthal 2-3 1-3 5, Ty Chenault 3-6 0-0 7, Cole Miedema 1-3 0-2 2, Carter Voelkers 0-0 1-2 1, Thomas Rhoades 0-0 0-0 0, Dawson Frett 0-1 0-0  0, Anthony Mundt 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Voss 0-0 0-0 0, Will Iossi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-42 9-16 64.

     MONTICELLO (45) – Jacob Manternach 2-5 1-4 5, Luke Lambert 0-2 0-0 0, Justin Recker 3-8 0-2 6, Alex Nealson 7-13 4-6 18, Kyle Sperfslage 5-7 2-4 13, Avery Martensen 0-4 0-0 0, Ty Kehoe 0-2 0-0 0, Devin Kraus 0-1 0-0 0, Will Rieniets 0-1 3-4 3, Connor Lambert 0-1 0-0 0, Tyler Luensman 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Cooper 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Manternach 0-1 0-0 0, T.J. Nealson 0-2 0-0 0, Mason Kraus 0-1 0-0 0, Daltyn Kramer 0-0 0-0 0, Harrison Eastburn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 10-20 45.

     Three-pointers: Botkins 4, Compton 2, Chenault; Sperfslage.

     Rebounds: Monticello 26 (A. Nealson 9, J. Manternach 8), Durant 25.

     Total fouls: Durant 20, Monticello 18.