BRODHEAD - As the Rock Valley Conference season wears on, Brodhead (5-4, 2-3 Rock Valley South) needs nothing more than to pick up victories.
Team captain Ryan Miller made sure his Cardinals did just that. Miller scored a game-high 30 points as Brodhead topped Beloit Turner 55-45.
"My team just found me and I put the shots in," Miller said.
Brodhead got off to a swinging start. After a 3-pointer by the Trojans Aaron Jones (15 points), Brodhead scored the next eight points. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals led 11-8.
However, the bright spot for Brodhead wasn't yet Miller, who had three points in the period. Instead it was sophomore big man J.J. Panoske. Panoske hit a 3-pointer and recorded five blocks in the first frame, showing Turner he meant business in the lane.
From there, the Trojans (4-5, 2-4) altered their game around Panoske, holding him to just two points throughout the rest of the game, and offensively working the ball away from him.
"I know he's a little frustrated, but that was Turner not allowing us to give J.J. post touches and came up on him when he stepped out," Brodhead head coach Brian Kammerer said. "As a sophomore he might be a little frustrated, but we talked to him. It's about our team, it's about getting the win and he knows that."
In the second quarter, Miller took over. Turner closed the gap to 11-10 right out of the gate and took a 14-13 lead with 5:15 remaining in the half. That would be the last time the Cardinals would trail in the game.
Miller scored eight straight points, mostly on drives, and finished with 12 points in the quarter.
"If we don't get that performance from Miller, it's a whole different ball game," Kammerer said. "Ryan's one of those guys who gets to the basket and he works hard for 32 minutes a game. You never have to question his effort."
Brodhead also got a brief spark in the final two minutes of the half from sophomore Carson Scheidegger. Scheidegger grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 1:53 remaining to give Brodhead a 26-18 lead, and then added a press-break lay up and a pair of free throws before the end of the half.
"It feels good when the team gets ahead and we're making our shots," Miller said.
By the break, the Cardinals led 34-24.
"Carson Scheidegger has been going two quarters on JV and two on varsity. We're trying to give him minutes. He's a kid that we're going to look to in the future. He came in and gave us excellent minutes. That's perfect for what we want from a kid off the bench," Kammerer said.
To start the second half, it was all the Ryan Miller show again.
The senior guard opened the third quarter with a pair of breakaway layups off of steals to give the Cardinals a 38-24 lead. Turner inched their way back into the game, scoring the next eight points before Miller put another shot through the net. By the time the fourth quarter started, Brodhead led 42-35, thanks in large part to steady defense.
"Coach told us to play solid 'D' at halftime, so we went out and played solid 'D'," Miller said.
With time winding down, Panoske would throw down an arm-stretched dunk. The only problem was the buzzer went off as he left his feet.
In the fourth quarter, Turner did what it could to stay alive. Panoske and fellow forward Nick Jacobson got into foul trouble. Each played much of the quarter with four fouls. The score crept to as close as 46-43 in the final 2:13 before the Cardinals would pull away. Brodhead initially made just 3-of-11 free throws in the quarter before Miller stepped up and knocked down the final four - closing the door on the Trojans.
"I told our guys that we weren't getting it done defensively and we weren't hitting our free throws down the stretch. We can't do that and win against good teams," Kammerer said.
"I give all the credit to Turner - it's a different style of ball. Coach (Ken) Watkins has done a great job with their program. They're disciplined - at times more than we were."
Panoske finished with five points, five rebounds, and eight blocks. Scheidegger and Jacob Cole each had six points, and Nick Jacobson, playing through a leg injury he suffered in the first quarter, finished with five points.
Brodhead will host Whitewater (6-3, 4-1 Rock Valley North) on Jan. 15 in an conference crossover.
Team captain Ryan Miller made sure his Cardinals did just that. Miller scored a game-high 30 points as Brodhead topped Beloit Turner 55-45.
"My team just found me and I put the shots in," Miller said.
Brodhead got off to a swinging start. After a 3-pointer by the Trojans Aaron Jones (15 points), Brodhead scored the next eight points. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals led 11-8.
However, the bright spot for Brodhead wasn't yet Miller, who had three points in the period. Instead it was sophomore big man J.J. Panoske. Panoske hit a 3-pointer and recorded five blocks in the first frame, showing Turner he meant business in the lane.
From there, the Trojans (4-5, 2-4) altered their game around Panoske, holding him to just two points throughout the rest of the game, and offensively working the ball away from him.
"I know he's a little frustrated, but that was Turner not allowing us to give J.J. post touches and came up on him when he stepped out," Brodhead head coach Brian Kammerer said. "As a sophomore he might be a little frustrated, but we talked to him. It's about our team, it's about getting the win and he knows that."
In the second quarter, Miller took over. Turner closed the gap to 11-10 right out of the gate and took a 14-13 lead with 5:15 remaining in the half. That would be the last time the Cardinals would trail in the game.
Miller scored eight straight points, mostly on drives, and finished with 12 points in the quarter.
"If we don't get that performance from Miller, it's a whole different ball game," Kammerer said. "Ryan's one of those guys who gets to the basket and he works hard for 32 minutes a game. You never have to question his effort."
Brodhead also got a brief spark in the final two minutes of the half from sophomore Carson Scheidegger. Scheidegger grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 1:53 remaining to give Brodhead a 26-18 lead, and then added a press-break lay up and a pair of free throws before the end of the half.
"It feels good when the team gets ahead and we're making our shots," Miller said.
By the break, the Cardinals led 34-24.
"Carson Scheidegger has been going two quarters on JV and two on varsity. We're trying to give him minutes. He's a kid that we're going to look to in the future. He came in and gave us excellent minutes. That's perfect for what we want from a kid off the bench," Kammerer said.
To start the second half, it was all the Ryan Miller show again.
The senior guard opened the third quarter with a pair of breakaway layups off of steals to give the Cardinals a 38-24 lead. Turner inched their way back into the game, scoring the next eight points before Miller put another shot through the net. By the time the fourth quarter started, Brodhead led 42-35, thanks in large part to steady defense.
"Coach told us to play solid 'D' at halftime, so we went out and played solid 'D'," Miller said.
With time winding down, Panoske would throw down an arm-stretched dunk. The only problem was the buzzer went off as he left his feet.
In the fourth quarter, Turner did what it could to stay alive. Panoske and fellow forward Nick Jacobson got into foul trouble. Each played much of the quarter with four fouls. The score crept to as close as 46-43 in the final 2:13 before the Cardinals would pull away. Brodhead initially made just 3-of-11 free throws in the quarter before Miller stepped up and knocked down the final four - closing the door on the Trojans.
"I told our guys that we weren't getting it done defensively and we weren't hitting our free throws down the stretch. We can't do that and win against good teams," Kammerer said.
"I give all the credit to Turner - it's a different style of ball. Coach (Ken) Watkins has done a great job with their program. They're disciplined - at times more than we were."
Panoske finished with five points, five rebounds, and eight blocks. Scheidegger and Jacob Cole each had six points, and Nick Jacobson, playing through a leg injury he suffered in the first quarter, finished with five points.
Brodhead will host Whitewater (6-3, 4-1 Rock Valley North) on Jan. 15 in an conference crossover.
