BRODHEAD - The Cardinals survived a couple of severe turns Thursday night in their 50-47 Rock Valley victory over McFarland.
Brodhead junior J.J. Panoske, coming off 64 points over the last two games, turned his right ankle with 1:15 left in the third and his Cardinals (3-2, 2-1 Rock Valley South) leading 38-24. The opportunistic Spartans (1-4, 0-3) proceeded to turn a 38-24 game into a nail-biting, character-building victory.
"It's going to help us down the road," Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer said. "If J.J. gets into foul trouble or gets hurt again, whatever it might be, now it's not a first time anymore."
Despite only playing about 17 minutes - he was also hampered by foul trouble - Panoske led the Cardinals with 20 points. Tyler Wedel led McFarland with 15. The teams combined to commit 49 fouls and both teams were in the bonus around the midway point of both halves.
Late in the third, the 6-feet, 9-inch Panoske got tangled up along the right baseline with McFarland's 6-feet, 5-inch forward, Derek Patten, and the ball. As Panoske was helped off the floor, his coach went down the emergency checklist.
"First thing was I looked at him and asked if he was sure," Kammerer said. "Then it was time to call our guys out, give them a little heart check and away we went."
"Losing J.J. was a big loss for us as a team," said Brodhead's lone senior, point guard Jacob Cole. "We just got together as a team and knew it was going to be a battle down to the end."
The Spartans first answered the bell, attacking the Cardinals inside and firing off an 8-0 surge capped by Jacob Peeters' two free throws 31 seconds into the third. McFarland found itself trailing 38-32, but winning big-time in the momentum department.
The Spartans hit their last nine free-throw attempts and went 21-for-27 on the night. They hit six freebies in the first 46 seconds of the fourth to get Brodhead's lead down to 39-36. It was the first time Brodhead led by fewer than four points since it led 3-1.
On the following inbound play, Cole, who was double- and triple-teamed all night, broke free from McFarland's press and went coast to coast, drawing a foul on Brett Kaether as he went up but missed the lay-up.
"They don't want (Cole) to bring the ball up and he doesn't get enough credit for the job he does out there," Kammerer said.
The referees indicated two shots, but when Cole missed the first, McFarland rebounded the ball and play continued.
Four minutes later, junior Nick Jacobson hit a free throw to give Brodhead a 42-40 lead. Then, after a McFarland turnover, Jacobson made the Cardinals' first field goal in 8 minutes, 3 seconds. He caught a pass with his back to Patten and the basket along the left edge of the paint. He drop-stepped to his right into the lane and swished an off-balance tear drop as he faded to his left.
"That's a move he's always worked hard on, the spin move to the lane," Cole said. "That was a big bucket and gave us a lot of momentum down the stretch."
Patten hit two free throws before Carson Scheidegger splashed two of his own to keep a 46-42 lead with 55.5 seconds to play
"Those free throws were huge," said Kammerer, whose club hit just 10 of 18 free throws. "He's really started to fit into his role well."
A Patten bucket trimmed the lead back to two points before Cole hit two free throws with 34 seconds to go to take a 48-44 lead. Tyler Wedel gave the Cards one last scare for the night by hitting a 3 from the right corner with 3.3 seconds left, but Scheidegger hit two more freebies as the Cardinals escaped.
They took a wealth of lessons with them when they left the gym.
"That gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the team that we can stick together after a loss like that and come up with a win," Cole said.
The Cardinals, who led 14-3 after the first quarter, went 23-for-42 at the stripe.
But with the gym suddenly feeling like a road site, Kammerer was ecstatic with his players' resilience down the stretch and their ability to hit the must-have free throws.
"You gotta give a lot of credit to the kids who were in there at the end," Kammerer said. "They aren't the ones who always get their names in the paper. They get all the credit tonight."
Brodhead junior J.J. Panoske, coming off 64 points over the last two games, turned his right ankle with 1:15 left in the third and his Cardinals (3-2, 2-1 Rock Valley South) leading 38-24. The opportunistic Spartans (1-4, 0-3) proceeded to turn a 38-24 game into a nail-biting, character-building victory.
"It's going to help us down the road," Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer said. "If J.J. gets into foul trouble or gets hurt again, whatever it might be, now it's not a first time anymore."
Despite only playing about 17 minutes - he was also hampered by foul trouble - Panoske led the Cardinals with 20 points. Tyler Wedel led McFarland with 15. The teams combined to commit 49 fouls and both teams were in the bonus around the midway point of both halves.
Late in the third, the 6-feet, 9-inch Panoske got tangled up along the right baseline with McFarland's 6-feet, 5-inch forward, Derek Patten, and the ball. As Panoske was helped off the floor, his coach went down the emergency checklist.
"First thing was I looked at him and asked if he was sure," Kammerer said. "Then it was time to call our guys out, give them a little heart check and away we went."
"Losing J.J. was a big loss for us as a team," said Brodhead's lone senior, point guard Jacob Cole. "We just got together as a team and knew it was going to be a battle down to the end."
The Spartans first answered the bell, attacking the Cardinals inside and firing off an 8-0 surge capped by Jacob Peeters' two free throws 31 seconds into the third. McFarland found itself trailing 38-32, but winning big-time in the momentum department.
The Spartans hit their last nine free-throw attempts and went 21-for-27 on the night. They hit six freebies in the first 46 seconds of the fourth to get Brodhead's lead down to 39-36. It was the first time Brodhead led by fewer than four points since it led 3-1.
On the following inbound play, Cole, who was double- and triple-teamed all night, broke free from McFarland's press and went coast to coast, drawing a foul on Brett Kaether as he went up but missed the lay-up.
"They don't want (Cole) to bring the ball up and he doesn't get enough credit for the job he does out there," Kammerer said.
The referees indicated two shots, but when Cole missed the first, McFarland rebounded the ball and play continued.
Four minutes later, junior Nick Jacobson hit a free throw to give Brodhead a 42-40 lead. Then, after a McFarland turnover, Jacobson made the Cardinals' first field goal in 8 minutes, 3 seconds. He caught a pass with his back to Patten and the basket along the left edge of the paint. He drop-stepped to his right into the lane and swished an off-balance tear drop as he faded to his left.
"That's a move he's always worked hard on, the spin move to the lane," Cole said. "That was a big bucket and gave us a lot of momentum down the stretch."
Patten hit two free throws before Carson Scheidegger splashed two of his own to keep a 46-42 lead with 55.5 seconds to play
"Those free throws were huge," said Kammerer, whose club hit just 10 of 18 free throws. "He's really started to fit into his role well."
A Patten bucket trimmed the lead back to two points before Cole hit two free throws with 34 seconds to go to take a 48-44 lead. Tyler Wedel gave the Cards one last scare for the night by hitting a 3 from the right corner with 3.3 seconds left, but Scheidegger hit two more freebies as the Cardinals escaped.
They took a wealth of lessons with them when they left the gym.
"That gives a lot of confidence to the rest of the team that we can stick together after a loss like that and come up with a win," Cole said.
The Cardinals, who led 14-3 after the first quarter, went 23-for-42 at the stripe.
But with the gym suddenly feeling like a road site, Kammerer was ecstatic with his players' resilience down the stretch and their ability to hit the must-have free throws.
"You gotta give a lot of credit to the kids who were in there at the end," Kammerer said. "They aren't the ones who always get their names in the paper. They get all the credit tonight."
