BRODHEAD - The Cardinals knew the Blue Devils would wake up down the stretch Tuesday night. That's likely why their leading scorer, J.J. Panoske, was waiting to deliver a knockout punch.
Brodhead's boys basketball team (7-5, 4-3 Rock Valley South) caught its bitter Rock Valley rival, Evansville (7-5, 5-2 Rock Valley North), napping to build a pair of eight-point leads early in the fourth quarter of a nailbiting 53-50 victory. After Dylan Erickson shot Evansville into a 47-47 tie with 1:02 to play, the 6-foot, 9-inch junior Panoske scored six of his 17 points and put the Devils to bed.
"Hats off to Evansville, they knocked (down) some shots with hands in their face," said Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer.
Erickson, who tied Panoske for game high with 17 points, hit the first of his two 3s in the final 62 seconds from just right of the top of the circle to tie the game at 47. On the following Cards possession, senior point guard Jacob Cole penetrated and kicked to Panoske, who hit at the right elbow. After Panoske made two free throws to take a 51-47 lead with 26.9 seconds left, he notched his seventh block, stuffing James May at the rim on the other end.
But the Devils reloaded, and Erickson hit a bomb from 10 feet behind the spot where he hit the previous 3, with Michael Peterson's hand in his face.
"Dylan Erickson had a tremendous game," Kammerer said. "Can't say enough about that kid. We told Peterson to have a hand in his face and he did. You can't do any more than that."
Panoske hit two more freebies with 5.8 left before Brian Lunde, who had already hit three 3s, got off a leaning prayer from the top of the key, but it rang off the back iron.
"I was trying to get him up in the air, but he just didn't bite on it," Lunde said, of the straight-up defense applied by Alex Wallace.
The Cardinals first caught the Devils off guard when Cole threw a long outlet to Peterson, who relayed it to Nick Jacobson just inside the free throw line. Jacobson quickly went to the rim for a layup and a 35-31 lead 40 seconds into the fourth as the Devils stood flat-footed.
Jacobson scored six of his 10 points in the fourth. He took the Cardinals' first three shots of the game, knowing the Devils would blanket Panoske from the outset.
"Since they were double-teaming him the whole night, I was pretty much going to have to step up, get my shots and help the team out," Jacobson said.
"Nick and J.J. are working well together and starting to gel," Kammerer said. "That's what we need. Nick can feed off J.J. and J.J. can feed off Nick."
On the Cards' next possession, Jacobson went baseline to score with contact by Casey Moseley. When he missed the extra throw, Panoske swooped in at the right block to snag the offensive board. He lured two defenders as he went up and sky-hooked a pass to Peterson, who scored at the left block to take a 39-31 lead.
"Panoske is doing a great job of finding the open teammate, especially when they're double- and triple-teaming him," Kammerer said.
Peterson made it an eight-point lead again when Wallace snuck a bounce pass to him at the right block off a baseline inbounds play.
But the Devils rattled off an 11-4 run. Lunde made it a 45-44 affair on a steal and runout that capped a frenetic sequence that saw 11 points scored in just 56 seconds. That stemmed from the Devils applying a full-court press, sensing the game's urgency after keeping the tempo slow until then with their box-and-one defense.
"We've been fighting back all season, we're definitely a second-half team," Lunde said.
Kammerer was proud of his team's resilience, as he was forced to sit Cole with 4 minutes to play as his premier ball-handler picked up his fourth foul.
"That's the kid that you don't want off the floor, but you certainly want to make sure he's on the floor with two minutes left," Kammerer said.
"But I'm proud of our guys - it was a team effort. We're doing a better job of handling pressure late in the game - taking care of the ball. That was a thorn in our side earlier in the season."
Brodhead's boys basketball team (7-5, 4-3 Rock Valley South) caught its bitter Rock Valley rival, Evansville (7-5, 5-2 Rock Valley North), napping to build a pair of eight-point leads early in the fourth quarter of a nailbiting 53-50 victory. After Dylan Erickson shot Evansville into a 47-47 tie with 1:02 to play, the 6-foot, 9-inch junior Panoske scored six of his 17 points and put the Devils to bed.
"Hats off to Evansville, they knocked (down) some shots with hands in their face," said Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer.
Erickson, who tied Panoske for game high with 17 points, hit the first of his two 3s in the final 62 seconds from just right of the top of the circle to tie the game at 47. On the following Cards possession, senior point guard Jacob Cole penetrated and kicked to Panoske, who hit at the right elbow. After Panoske made two free throws to take a 51-47 lead with 26.9 seconds left, he notched his seventh block, stuffing James May at the rim on the other end.
But the Devils reloaded, and Erickson hit a bomb from 10 feet behind the spot where he hit the previous 3, with Michael Peterson's hand in his face.
"Dylan Erickson had a tremendous game," Kammerer said. "Can't say enough about that kid. We told Peterson to have a hand in his face and he did. You can't do any more than that."
Panoske hit two more freebies with 5.8 left before Brian Lunde, who had already hit three 3s, got off a leaning prayer from the top of the key, but it rang off the back iron.
"I was trying to get him up in the air, but he just didn't bite on it," Lunde said, of the straight-up defense applied by Alex Wallace.
The Cardinals first caught the Devils off guard when Cole threw a long outlet to Peterson, who relayed it to Nick Jacobson just inside the free throw line. Jacobson quickly went to the rim for a layup and a 35-31 lead 40 seconds into the fourth as the Devils stood flat-footed.
Jacobson scored six of his 10 points in the fourth. He took the Cardinals' first three shots of the game, knowing the Devils would blanket Panoske from the outset.
"Since they were double-teaming him the whole night, I was pretty much going to have to step up, get my shots and help the team out," Jacobson said.
"Nick and J.J. are working well together and starting to gel," Kammerer said. "That's what we need. Nick can feed off J.J. and J.J. can feed off Nick."
On the Cards' next possession, Jacobson went baseline to score with contact by Casey Moseley. When he missed the extra throw, Panoske swooped in at the right block to snag the offensive board. He lured two defenders as he went up and sky-hooked a pass to Peterson, who scored at the left block to take a 39-31 lead.
"Panoske is doing a great job of finding the open teammate, especially when they're double- and triple-teaming him," Kammerer said.
Peterson made it an eight-point lead again when Wallace snuck a bounce pass to him at the right block off a baseline inbounds play.
But the Devils rattled off an 11-4 run. Lunde made it a 45-44 affair on a steal and runout that capped a frenetic sequence that saw 11 points scored in just 56 seconds. That stemmed from the Devils applying a full-court press, sensing the game's urgency after keeping the tempo slow until then with their box-and-one defense.
"We've been fighting back all season, we're definitely a second-half team," Lunde said.
Kammerer was proud of his team's resilience, as he was forced to sit Cole with 4 minutes to play as his premier ball-handler picked up his fourth foul.
"That's the kid that you don't want off the floor, but you certainly want to make sure he's on the floor with two minutes left," Kammerer said.
"But I'm proud of our guys - it was a team effort. We're doing a better job of handling pressure late in the game - taking care of the ball. That was a thorn in our side earlier in the season."
