NEW GLARUS — Opening night for the Glarner Knights boys basketball team did not go quite as hoped. The bigger, faster Vikings of Janesville Parker put the game away early en route to a 75-47 win Dec. 4, which was also senior night for six New Glarus players.
Dominic Tollackson opened the game with a bucket to put the Knights ahead 2-0. It was the last lead of the evening for the home team. The Vikings took a 6-4 lead two minutes later, and a free throw by New Glarus senior Breckin Faber marked the last time New Glarus would be within a possession of the lead.
Parker went on a 34-6 run to close out the first half. A culmination of Parker’s hot shooting, size, added with the frustrations of back-iron clanks for the Knights led to some early fatigue for the home team.
“In the first half we didn’t defend very well, and we didn’t finish on the offensive end. When you struggle on the offensive end and the defensive end, it can get out of hand in a hurry, and it certainly did in that first half,” said coach Travis Sysko, whose team trailed 40-11 at the break.
Sysko challenged his players to show some character and fight in the second half, and they responded — though not right away. Parker scored the first 7 points after halftime, with the lead growing to as high as 38 points at 51-13.
Then the Knights caught fire, thanks in part to heavy full-court pressure and attacking the rim on offense.
“I like our guys’ fight in the second half. They certainly could have thrown in the towel and laid down,” Sysko said. “We talked at halftime about that these games reveal character, they don’t build it. I thought we showed that we had some fight left in us and had a good effort in the second half.”
A 22-6 run saw New Glarus trim the deficit to 22 points at the 10:39 mark, but the Vikings were able to steady the trouble and re-take control of the game.
Jack Parman led New Glarus with 16 points in the contest, all of which coming in the second half. Ten total Knights scored in the contest, but no one else scored more than six points.
“Jack Parman stood out tonight at both ends of the court. I thought he played defense, he rebounded, he got to the basket and finished — he was certainly a bright spot for us tonight,” Sysko said.
The Knights hit just three 3-pointers and finished 10 for 19 from the free throw line. Brenden Weis, a 6-6 forward, led Parker with 24 points, while guard Robert DeLong had 18 and forward Jacob Nabor (6-7) finished with 10. The Vikings also has three triples in the game, but had 28 2s compared to 14 for New Glarus. The Vikings were 10-for-15 from the stripe.
