Panthers roast Dragons

By Clara Aucoin
Gilpin County News Senior Writer

The Nederland Panthers have promised a season to look forward to, but it didn’t start last Thursday night at home when the Panthers hosted Clear Creek. In fact, Coach Chris Mischke is not sure he recognized some of the guys wearing those Panther uniforms.

The Panthers should not have been taken by surprise by the Diggers, they played them during the summer, and beat them. But the boys that took the hardwood in the season opener looked scared. And they played scared. But it all started so well.

Early it looked like brawn (Clear Creek) against finesse (Nederland), and for the first quarter that was the way things stacked up. The Panthers, who came out on fire shooting and who had stopped the Diggers by a zone defense were up 11-5. But things turned back quick.

In the second quarter the Diggers started sinking their outside shots and Nederland changed to a man to man defense. Then, the Panthers got beat on defense. To further complicate the issue, they went cold from the floor. Nothing from outside fell and they couldn’t get much going inside because of the size of Clear Creek’s big man. For the first four minutes of the second quarter, the Panthers went without a field goal. By the half the Panthers had dropped to a 14-24 deficit.

Although the Panthers scored first in the second half, everything they accomplished was trumped by the Diggers. When they passed inside, the Diggers intercepted. When they shot from outside, Diggers grabbed the rebound. Some Panthers, those that normally play hard inside, seemed afraid of the contact. The Panthers allowed themselves to be outplayed, outshot and simply intimidated by the Diggers.

By the time the evening was over the Diggers had nailed the Panthers for nine three point shots, and won 35-53.

Ultimately, Coach Chris Mischke was philosophical about the game. He said, “They made us look like we were in elementary school. I am disappointed in the way we played. But, we were 12 for 14 from the free throw line and I’ll take that anytime. Also, we held them to less than 55 points, and that will be our goal this season.”

At Arrupe Jesuit two days later it was an entirely different story. The Dragons are a second year team, young, and it seemed, still learning the discipline and finer points of organized basketball. They played like a team that teetered on the brink of street ball, which makes competing against them difficult. But the Panthers came out guns blazing and took no prisoners.

The Panthers fired up jumpers that fell. They played as a team. If one got beat by the quick fast Dragons, a teammate was right there with help on defense. Jon Monserud, Mike Gilbert and Brian Buell, in his first organized basketball game ever, ruled the glass, snagging anything they touched. Offensively, the big boys had position and put the ball right back in the hoop. At the end of the first quarter the Panthers were roasting the Dragons 13-1.

Despite Nederland’s domination, it was a ragged game. The Panthers could not get in a flow, primarily because of the out of control up and down play of the Dragons. As happens with street ball teams, the longer the game went the more physical it became. Arrupe was hit with a deliberate foul after a Dragon rode Josh Lederach to the floor, and a little later, Panther Coach Chris Mischke got hit with his first technical foul of the season when he disagreed with the referee on the point value of a shot. The argument appeared more of a turf battle than about the point because the Panthers were up by 20 points at the time.

In the fourth quarter Arrupe began to play more desperate. They were trying to score, but the Nederland defense was just as quick and much bigger inside. As the Dragons tried to force turnovers they sold out on defense, Nederland kicked the ball to another shooter, and laid in the points.

Still, for brief flashes, the Panthers were able to get into a flow and they looked amazing when they hit their stride. The passes were quick, the pace frenetic, the shooting nothing but net. No one was in foul trouble because of the deep bench, and the outside shooters were stroking long shots. Ultimately, the Panthers, without much effort, prevailed 58-30.  

Against Clear Creek Jason Baumhover, still hobbled with a sore shoulder, had 11 points, three rebounds, and one block; Mike Gilbert had six points, one block and three rebounds; Colin Hickey pitched in two points, three steals, four assists, six blocks and one rebound; Josh Lederach had 12 points, one block, and three rebounds; Jon Monserud managed two points, five steals, one assist and six rebounds; and Alan Richards finished with two points, one steal and one rebound.

Stats were much better at Arrupe, where Mike Gilbert rebounded to a splendid performance with 13 points and 13 rebounds; Jon Monserud grabbed 10 rebounds and had 11 points; Alan Richards had eight rebounds and two points; Josh Lederach scored 17 points and had four steals; Colin Hickey had 10 points; Jason Baumhover had one point, and Brian Buell scored two points but snagged 11 rebounds.

The Panthers travel to Belleview Christian tonight, game time is 4:30 for JV and 7 for varsity. Their next home game is Shining Mountain on December 16.