MANKATO — When you’re hot, you’re hot. But what happens when you’re cold?
No. 3 Mankato East boys basketball, without starting Center Braden Petzel, found out that answer Thursday. The cold-shooting Cougars went 19 of 63 from the floor and suffered a 68-52 Big Nine Conference loss to Rochester Century at the East gym.
While Petzel was attending festivities at the Minnesota All-Star Football game, his presence on the boards and as a rim protector was evident. However, more than that, East’s dreadful shooting performance allowed the Panthers (2-3 overall, 2-2 in Big Nine) to knock off the previously undefeated Cougars (3-1, 3-1).
“We just seemed like we were down the whole time,” East senior guard Lucas Gustafson said. “We actually started out strong but once our good looks didn’t start going in we got lazy on defense and that affected the entire game. We have to figure out when we’re not making shots we have to find other ways to win games.
“Braden is a huge part of our team because he fills up the whole paint. We weren’t tough like we usually are and didn’t come up with a lot of those rebounds Braden gets. It was weird not having home both offensively and defensively. He provides a lot of little things for us and it will be great to have him back.”
East grabbed an early 8-2 lead as Gustafson banked home a 26-foot triple off the right side to go along with baskets from junior forward Briggs Meyer and senior wing Amari Nobles. Despite turning the ball over 10 times in the first half, the Panthers got eight points apiece from junior guard Nate Long and junior guard Finn Eckerman in assuming a 36-28 halftime lead.
Gustafson netted 10 of his team-best 15 points in the opening 18 minutes while Nobles put through seven of his 11. Junior forward Griffin Schott, who came off the bench to score 12 points, buried a right-side 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 33-28 before Long’s top-of-the-key bomb at the buzzer produced an eight-point halftime advantage. Eckerman poured through a game-high 22 points for the Panthers, who also received 16 points from long.
“We have to learn from our mistakes on defense and hit our open shots,” Schott said. “We need to work with each other instead of being mad at each other. Overall, we need to be better. I have to do a better job of getting through screens and being more alert. We have to be tougher overall because our toughness wasn’t the best tonight. We can’t let our missed shots affect us on the defensive end.
“It gets in our heads and we slow down on defense and tend not to be as tough.”
After Mason Diede’s left-side three pulled the Cougars within 38-31, Jaxon Binnicker’s down-the-boulevard drive ignited a 16-3 run that put Century ahead 54-36 on Eckerman’s 3-pointer with 9:40 to go. East shot 30.1% compared to the Panthers’ 26 of 55 for 47.2%. The Cougars, who lost the boards 48-35 and committed fewer turnovers 20-10, connected on just 4 of 30 (13.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
“We had a lot of good looks but there was just a lid on the bucket tonight,” East coach Tony Ball said. “When that happens, your margin is very small. Our guys battled but with nine minutes left we had to start coming after them and gamble a little more. Century played well together and I was impressed with how hard they played. This was a great learning experience for our guys.
“We’re not a finished product. This game can be a good learning experience for all of us.”