Chiefs fall in a fight for their playoff lives
It wasn’t exactly the match-up they were hoping for in the opening round of WIAA Regionals, as the No. 14 seeded Cornell boys basketball program faced off on the road Feb. 28, with the conference champs, the ever-present Prairie Farm. In their previous meetings during the regular season, Prairie Farm came out on top over Cornell by more than 20 points each time.
This time around, it was far different, despite a major loss before the game ever started, as 6’3” starting sophomore forward Torren Parker was out with a rolled ankle he suffered in practice the night before.
“Competing without my full starting lineup has been our storyline all season,” said coach Steve Parker.
Still, Cornell is made of sterner stuff than their ranking indicates and adjusted to being a man down.
“I schemed a new hurricane, three-defense to slow their offensive attack,” said S. Parker. “My players executed it to force bad shots and limited Prairie Farm to one shot for most of their possessions.”
The Chiefs also tried some new things with their 1-3-1 zone, which had some success.
“However, I had so many players miss practice for both valid and unexcused reasons this last week, that it hurt our team’s chance to win tonight, because players weren’t able to fully execute the fundamentals and schemes we practiced, due to their absences,” said Parker.
Cornell was down by 10 at the break, but clawed back to take a four-point lead, twice late in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to stave off the Panthers.
“We committed eight turnovers in nine possessions, with six minutes left, which doomed us at the end,” said S. Parker. “It was an emotional game for me, because I knew it could be the last game for our seniors and it was.
S. Parker says senior Dylan Bowe was “a warrior out there,” finishing with a gamehigh 31 points. He was 10-12 from the free throw line and notched 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and defensively, took a charge.
Senior Blake Anders followed that up with 13 points, 9 rebounds, an assist and a steal, while sophomore Parker Modl ended with 10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and a block. Sophomore Hunter Anders came next, with 5 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a block, and junior Bentley Spangler notched 3 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Freshman Carson Stipek shot a threepointer and came up with a rebound, while junior Will Peterson added 6 rebounds and a steal, and junior Jayden Joas-Shaw chipped in with an assist.
“I again would like to thank all the parents, grandparents, family, friends and community members, who cheered us on this year,” said S. Parker. “Your support means a lot to our players and our program.”
