Monticello gets past Solon, State bound for the second straight year

<p>MAQUOKETA - Coming off a 54-37 win in the Second Round against Central DeWitt, the 21-0 Panthers were up against a very good Solon Spartans team in the Class 3A Substate 4 Championship game. The Panthers dominated the first half, but the Spartans came back in the second half to make it a ballgame. Monticello survived the Spartans late push, and are headed back to the State Tournament for the second straight season, beating Solon 45-39. The Panthers improve to 22-0 heading to Des Moines, while the Spartans end at 21-3. </p> <p>Both teams came out man to man and played pretty solid defense for the whole first quarter. [player_tooltip player_id="796120" first="Justin" last="Recker"] got the scoring started with a putback layup. A layup by Bo Janssen started the Spartan scoring, but they didn’t get much the rest of the half. After one, Monticello led 9-7. The second quarter was dominated by the Panthers. [player_tooltip player_id="964892" first="Ty" last="Kehoe"] went a personal 7-0 run to push Monticello’s lead to 16-7. [player_tooltip player_id="956879" first="Tate" last="Petersen"] forced Solon into a timeout after draining a three to put Monti on a 12-0. Solon went without a bucket in the second quarter, and Monticello took a 22-8 lead into halftime.</p> <p>Monticello’s big man [player_tooltip player_id="796120" first="Justin" last="Recker"] made a nice move down low and then drew a charge on the other end to start the third quarter. Solon finally got a bucket with just under 3:30 to go in the third. Solon’s leading scorer [player_tooltip player_id="796195" first="David" last="Bluder"] with a nice and-1 towards the end of the third cuts the Monticello lead to 27-16 heading into the fourth quarter. [player_tooltip player_id="964913" first="Ben" last="Cusick"] with a quick and-1 to start the fourth, brought the Spartans within 8. A three from [player_tooltip player_id="964917" first="Carson" last="Shive"] cuts the Monticello down to six, and the Solon fans are even louder. Monticello responds with an and-1 of their own from [player_tooltip player_id="964856" first="Connor" last="Lambert"], and their lead is back to nine. Shive fouled out halfway through the fourth and put Monti in the double-bonus for the final four minutes. Solon put the press on and got a turnover, followed by a quick bucket by Bluder to get the lead back down to 8. The Panthers made enough shots at the charity stripe to hold off the Spartans and win with a final score of 45 to 39. </p> <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 60px;"> <tbody> <tr style="height: 20px;"> <td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center; height: 20px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Team</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center; height: 20px;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>1Q</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; text-align: center; height: 20px;"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">2Q</span></strong></td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>3Q</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>4Q</strong></span></td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Final</strong></span></td> </tr> <tr style="height: 20px;"> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">Monticello</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">9</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">13</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">5</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">18</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">45</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 20px;"> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">Solon</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">7</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">1</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">8</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">23</td> <td style="width: 16.6667%; height: 20px; text-align: center;">39</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <p><!-- wp:paragraph --><!-- /wp:paragraph --></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Takeaways:</strong></span></p> <p>The Panthers have arguably the best defense in the state, allowing a Class 3A best 34.3 points a game. Monday night was another impressive showing from the Panther defense. As for the Spartans, after a rough first half offensively, they came out and battled back in the second half. Monti has a very balanced offense and runs some good sets. If their defense continues to play at this pace, they will be a tough out in the 3A bracket. </p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="796120" first="Justin" last="Recker"] (Monticello)</p> <p>The Monticello big man had another solid night, going for 11 points and 5 boards. Recker is very solid in the post; good footwork and good post moves. With 2.9 assists a game, he is also very good at passing out of the post. Defensively, his long arms make blocking shots look very easy. Look for the 6’6" big man to keep playing well in Des Moines. </p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="964892" first="Ty" last="Kehoe"] (Monticello)</p> <p>Kehoe has been huge for the Panthers towards the last couple of games. Kehoe had 15 points in a Second Round win against Central DeWitt and continued his hot streak with 16 Monday night in the Substate Final. Offensively, Kehoe is phenomenal off the drive and can finish at the hoop. On the Panthers elite defense, Kehoe is one of their best defenders. He is a great on-ball defender and very good at getting steals. </p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="964913" first="Ben" last="Cusick"] (Solon)</p> <p>Cusick led the Spartans with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Cusick averaged 10.4 on the season, along with 6.3 rebounds. He is a solid inside scorer, and can also step out and shoot. </p> <p>2021 [player_tooltip player_id="796195" first="David" last="Bluder"] (Solon)</p> <p>The 6’4" forward had a fairly quiet night against the Panthers. Bluder had 7 points to go with 3-7 shooting and 1-1 from the free-throw line. Bluder had a nice and-1 in the fourth quarter to cut into the Monticello lead. He is a solid all-around scorer, shooting 47% from the field and 39% from three. </p>