BRODHEAD - Once the basketball started listening to J.J. Panoske, Brodhead never looked back in a 56-50 upset of Parkview Thursday night.
With the game tied 21-21 in the opening minutes of third period, the 6-foot, 9-inch junior pulled up from the left corner. His 3-point attempt bounced high off the front iron to the back iron, where it bounced high again before settling on the rim and falling. As it danced, Panoske hollered, "Aww, c'mon, c'mon, just get in."
"I was just talking to the ball, 'Just get in, just get in,' and when it fell I just took off," Panoske said. "After that I just had confidence that wherever I was, I was gonna make the shot."
After Panoske hit another bomb from the same spot and senior Jacob Cole hit a 16-foot pull-up that capped an 11-3 run, Brodhead (10-8, 7-6 Rock Valley South) led its bitter rival 30-23 with 5:15 left in the third.
Senior Jamie Wichser, who scored 12 for Parkview, hit back-to-back jumpers to get his team within a hoop at 31-29 with 2:42 left in the frame. But Panoske scored off a Cole lob and drew a triple team on the next Cardinals possession before threading a no-look pass to Trent Jordan for a lay-up that made it 35-29 going into the fourth.
Despite drawing his fourth foul with 1:50 left in the third, Parkview senior point guard Nick Melton scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Rock Valley South-leading Vikings (13-6, 9-4) refused to go away.
After Brodhead built its biggest lead at 45-37, Melton splashed a 3 at the top of the key before scooping a layup high off glass going away from the rim to make it 45-42 with 2:32 to play. With 31.5 seconds left, he set up a triple by Kyle Woodworth that again made it a one-possession game at 52-49.
"Boy did they battle at the end. And Nick Melton did so many things for us offensively, not just his scoring," Parkview coach Paul Saevre said. "It's the penetration and the things he creates for everybody else."
Cole, who finished second in scoring for Brodhead with 14 points, hit three of four free throws to quell the rally. Panoske had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. His 19.5 points-per-game average is second in the South to Melton's 20.5.
"Going against him, it makes me want to work even harder as a defender," said Brodhead junior Alex Wallace, who was often charged with the task of guarding the prolific 6-foot, 1-inch playmaker. "It gets me fired up to try to shut down their best player."
Kammerer was worried his team was reverting to its 66-54 loss in Orfordville when his team didn't score its first field goal until 34 seconds remained in the first.
"In all honesty, I thought we were going back to the Parkview game where they shot so well early and built a huge lead," Kammerer said.
Panoske hit the first of his three 3s from the right wing off an assist by Cole, who hit another from the same spot with 2.4 seconds left in the first as Brodhead hacked a 9-1 lead down to 9-7.
A disappointing 55-52 loss in Clinton Friday forced Kammerer to change his team's approach.
"We'd been losing one after another and he told us to start trying to be the spoiler every night," Panoske said. "We're going to enjoy this one, but not too long. We've got to go out and get another one."
The Cardinals are still alive in their pursuit of consecutive conference titles, as they stand two games behind Parkview, who has a half-game lead on second-place Big Foot. The Cardinals will look to split the season series with Big Foot when they host the Chiefs Tuesday night.
Bonus free throw: If Brodhead's upset of Parkview wasn't shocking enough, a streaker upped the ante early in the second quarter. The unnamed fan, bearing black paint on his upper body and nether regions, ran onto Brodhead's side of the floor as the Cardinals prepared to inbound. He did a quick dance just inside the arc before darting across the court and out the gym's back doors.
With the game tied 21-21 in the opening minutes of third period, the 6-foot, 9-inch junior pulled up from the left corner. His 3-point attempt bounced high off the front iron to the back iron, where it bounced high again before settling on the rim and falling. As it danced, Panoske hollered, "Aww, c'mon, c'mon, just get in."
"I was just talking to the ball, 'Just get in, just get in,' and when it fell I just took off," Panoske said. "After that I just had confidence that wherever I was, I was gonna make the shot."
After Panoske hit another bomb from the same spot and senior Jacob Cole hit a 16-foot pull-up that capped an 11-3 run, Brodhead (10-8, 7-6 Rock Valley South) led its bitter rival 30-23 with 5:15 left in the third.
Senior Jamie Wichser, who scored 12 for Parkview, hit back-to-back jumpers to get his team within a hoop at 31-29 with 2:42 left in the frame. But Panoske scored off a Cole lob and drew a triple team on the next Cardinals possession before threading a no-look pass to Trent Jordan for a lay-up that made it 35-29 going into the fourth.
Despite drawing his fourth foul with 1:50 left in the third, Parkview senior point guard Nick Melton scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as the Rock Valley South-leading Vikings (13-6, 9-4) refused to go away.
After Brodhead built its biggest lead at 45-37, Melton splashed a 3 at the top of the key before scooping a layup high off glass going away from the rim to make it 45-42 with 2:32 to play. With 31.5 seconds left, he set up a triple by Kyle Woodworth that again made it a one-possession game at 52-49.
"Boy did they battle at the end. And Nick Melton did so many things for us offensively, not just his scoring," Parkview coach Paul Saevre said. "It's the penetration and the things he creates for everybody else."
Cole, who finished second in scoring for Brodhead with 14 points, hit three of four free throws to quell the rally. Panoske had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. His 19.5 points-per-game average is second in the South to Melton's 20.5.
"Going against him, it makes me want to work even harder as a defender," said Brodhead junior Alex Wallace, who was often charged with the task of guarding the prolific 6-foot, 1-inch playmaker. "It gets me fired up to try to shut down their best player."
Kammerer was worried his team was reverting to its 66-54 loss in Orfordville when his team didn't score its first field goal until 34 seconds remained in the first.
"In all honesty, I thought we were going back to the Parkview game where they shot so well early and built a huge lead," Kammerer said.
Panoske hit the first of his three 3s from the right wing off an assist by Cole, who hit another from the same spot with 2.4 seconds left in the first as Brodhead hacked a 9-1 lead down to 9-7.
A disappointing 55-52 loss in Clinton Friday forced Kammerer to change his team's approach.
"We'd been losing one after another and he told us to start trying to be the spoiler every night," Panoske said. "We're going to enjoy this one, but not too long. We've got to go out and get another one."
The Cardinals are still alive in their pursuit of consecutive conference titles, as they stand two games behind Parkview, who has a half-game lead on second-place Big Foot. The Cardinals will look to split the season series with Big Foot when they host the Chiefs Tuesday night.
Bonus free throw: If Brodhead's upset of Parkview wasn't shocking enough, a streaker upped the ante early in the second quarter. The unnamed fan, bearing black paint on his upper body and nether regions, ran onto Brodhead's side of the floor as the Cardinals prepared to inbound. He did a quick dance just inside the arc before darting across the court and out the gym's back doors.
