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The Panthers were led by Karson Arrenholz, who scored his 1,000
point in front of a packed house in Delavan.
The Toppers did manage to get off to a respectable start with
Michael Lowery opening the scoring for the Toppers with a two near
the top of the key. Lowery's assist to Peyton Taylor would extend
the early lead, 4-1. But it would be Karson Arrenholz who would tie
the game at 4-4 with his first of many threes of the evening. Sam
Hodges would put Delavan up 9-6 at the 2:36 mark with a three and
little did Mount Pulaski know this would be the theme of the evening
for the Panthers. Lowery's second basket of the quarter would edge
the Toppers closer, 10-8. Will Stewart would knot the score at 10-10
by sinking a couple free throws with 13.1 seconds on the clock.
Dalton Litterly, who is quicker than lightening, took Delavan by
surprise with a steal and his fast pass to Stewart under the basket
led to the Toppers leading 12-10 at the end of one quarter of play.
The teams exchanged threes at the start of the second quarter with
Arrenholz putting Delavan back on top 16-15 with 5:16 remaining in
the second quarter. A steal by Lowery and the nice pass to Blake
Collier for the basket would allow the Toppers to keep pace with the
Panthers, only trailing 18-17. Andy Long, another sharp-shooter for
Delavan, would extend the lead to 21-17 with his first three of the
game. Around the 2:20 mark Arrenholz again would take it back beyond
the arc and launch it, good for a three and the 24-17 lead.
The announcers would wait until a timeout to make the announcement
that this three was his 1,000 point of his high school career at
Delavan. The huge crowd acknowledged the accomplishment with a
standing ovation.
Arrenholz and teammate David Lane finished the second quarter
scoring each with a basket and the 28-20 halftime lead belonged to
Delavan.
Beau Collier gave the Topper fans something to cheer about not only
with his three to open the scoring in the third but also his nice
reverse layup that made the score 31-25. The Toppers continued to
shine on the next play as well, with Lowery throwing a full-court
pass to Matt Amidon under the basket. Amidon had to leap in the air
to grab the ball and he successfully managed to get back in the air
to score the basket before the defenders were on him. The Toppers
were still alive but trailing 31-27. Time for the Panthers to plan
their third quarter attack with, wait for it....a series of threes.
Long got back in the action by dialing it in from long distance and
not to be outdone, Arrenholz went on to hit yet another three. Even
Mitchell Carr hit a three to extend the Panther lead to 46-33 with
:50 seconds left to play in the third quarter. But the quarter was
not over yet and the Panthers got one more shot at scoring. Leave it
to number 22, Arrenholz, who nonchalantly stepped back in the corner
near the Delavan bench and just effortlessly tossed the ball towards
the basket and thanks to a couple good bounces around the rim, it
fell in just perfectly for a three at the buzzer.
What a night this kid was having here in Delavan. The Panthers now
led 49-34.
[to top of second column] |
Delavan continued to put on a shooting clinic in the fourth quarter
as both Arrenholz and Long added to their point totals. By the time
these two guys were done scoring for the evening, the Panthers had a
nice 68-41 lead. Brett Huff would score the final four points for
the Toppers as the 68-45 Tomahawk Conference win belonged to
Delavan.
Arrenholz led all scorers with an impressive 28 points and Long also
had a great night with 22 points. Both Arrenholz and Long finished
the night with 6 threes apiece, while Delavan as a team tied a
school record with 15 threes on the evening.
Arrenholz, meanwhile, sits at 1,019 career points and counting while
Long is within reach of that milestone as well this season.
The Panthers improve to 13-6 on the season.
The Toppers, who were led in scoring by Beau Collier with nine
points, are now 11-8.
The Toppers next game is Friday night in Mount Pulaski as they take
on Riverton.
Mount Pulaski scoring:
Beau Collier 9
Blake Collier 7
Will Stewart 7
Brett Huff 7
Peyton Taylor 5
Michael Lowery 4
Matt Amidon 4
Dalton Litterly 2
Delavan scoring
Karson Arrenholz 28
Andy Long 22
Noah Jeckel 6
David Lane 4
Mitchell Carr 3
Sam Hodges 3
Justin Sieh 2
[Teena Lowery] |
