First Place Sports News
Originally Published March 6, 2015
LeROY – Friday’s showdown between the LeRoy Panthers and the Ridgeview Mustangs looked like a regional championship should.
Look to one side, the Ridgeview faithful were thundering. Look to the other, the Panther backers were loud and proud.
The game had runs, threes, defense and a monster comeback. Unfortunately for the Panthers, that comeback fell short.
“It was easily the best half of basketball we played all year,” Panther coach Mark Edmundson said of the final two quarters which saw LeRoy erase a 41-22 halftime deficit to pull within one with seven seconds remaining on the clock.
“It was also the most fun half of basketball we played all year, up until the buzzer sounded,” Edmundson added.
That buzzer sounded as the ball left the hands of junior Matt Chastain, who took the inbound pass the length of the floor in 5.9 seconds to get a good look from three right in front of the Panthers’ bench as they trailed 60-57.
The junior pump-faked, got William Tinsley to jump, but was doubled by sophomore forward Noah Young, who obstructed the shot just enough to make it go a bit awry as Chastain was a bit off balance.
“One person can’t guard (Chastain). Tinsley tried to get out in front of him, but he couldn’t,” Edmundson said. “I just told Matt to go get the best three you can and knock it down. He got a good look, but he just didn’t hit it.”
As the ball failed to fall, the Panthers took the 60-57 loss in a game that saw Chastain drop a bucket pretty much any other time the Panthers needed in a second half stretch that, like Edmundson said, was the most exciting and well-played half of the Panthers’ season.
But with less than ten seconds left in the game, it didn’t even look like the Panthers would get that final look. After Luke Ward hit a pair of free throws for the Mustangs with 16 seconds left, the Panthers got the ball back trailing 58-54.
It took about nine seconds for the Panthers to find their look – Noah Perry standing in the corner by the LeRoy bench for a three-point look that was actually pretty well guarded.
The ball hit iron and looked like a miss, bouncing a couple feet above the rim. Somehow it fell, and the game had the feeling it was going to fall LeRoy’s way as well as the Panthers now trailed 58-57.
On the ensuing inbound, the Mustangs launched a deep ball to Austin Zielsdorf, trying to get ahead of the LeRoy defenses. Zielsdorf got tangled up with Teddy Harms, falling to the ground and earning a pair of free throws that he would sink.
For the Mustangs, the 6-for-6 free throw shooting in the final 30 seconds on shots from Tyler McCormick (29.5 seconds), Ward (16 seconds) and Zielsdorf (5.9 seconds) were enough to seal it, as Chastain’s final look followed the Zielsdorf free throws.
The best half of the year for the Panthers also looked like the best half of the year for Matt Chastain, who scored 16 in the final two quarters en route to 29 on the day despite constant defensive attention.
In the third quarter, he scored seven in the first 4 minutes 10 seconds, nailing pull-ups and turnarounds, driving to create space and taking the game over.
“That’s what he does. That’s Matt,” Edmundson said, adding that he told Chastain: “We’re either going to get back in the game because of our defense and because of the way you play offense or we’re not.”
Chastain’s seven early second half points were big, but the comeback was by no means a solo effort. During the stretch of Chastain’s early seven, Teddy Harms rebounded a miss and was fouled on a putback to bury a pair of free throws. Ward added a bucket for Ridgeview in the span as well.
Extending the 9-2 Panther run, Brady Fritcher found the lane to bury a floater and was fouled with 3:18 left, hitting the free throw to put LeRoy within ten at 43-34. It was the first time the game was that close since the end of the first quarter.
The third quarter would end with a 16-3 Panther run as they exited the quarter trailing 44-38 after entering down 41-22.
“It was just will, it was the energy and the effort and the crowd” Edmundson said of the comeback effort. “We played man-to-man defense, which we aren’t very good at. We tried four different defenses in the first half and not one of them worked. We just wanted it more in the second half.”
There were other big plays for the Panthers, a Justin Morgan three with 2:05 left, drives and putbacks by Harms, Fritcher and Perry. But in the end the Mustang lead, built by eight first-half triples, proved to be just enough to prevent a victorious Panther comeback.