Still Unbeaten

ROCKFORD - With its high-powered offense checked, Parkway needed to grit out a win on defense Thursday night.

The Panthers delivered, beating Minster at its own game with a defensive masterpiece for a 34-21 victory in a Midwest Athletic Conference girls basketball game at Panther Gymnasium.

"Any time you can beat that team, you've done something," Parkway coach Dan Williamson said. "The tradition, what they've accomplished over a long time is impressive. I have no idea when the last time we beat Minster was, but the girls just battled."

Parkway (9-0, 3-0 MAC) hasn't beaten Minster since at least 2004. Four years ago, the Wildcats won 73-7.

But this year's Panthers kept the Wildcats to eight points in the first half. The Wildcats opened the game with two missed free throws, three offensive rebounds and three missed shots before Emiree Knittle put Parkway up 3-0 with a kickout three from the right corner.

Minster (2-5, 1-2 MAC) got a trey from Morgan Sparks with 3:24 left in the first to get on the board, but then the Panthers went on a run. Adria Miller put back a miss with 1:43 left to make it 7-3, Knittle hit a three from the left elbow, and Allison Hughes added a layup to stake Parkway to a 12-3 lead at the end of the first.

"Emiree Knittle played really well," coach Williamson said. "She played outstanding tonight, and that's exactly what we needed. She's been struggling a little shooting the ball. Tuesday, she showed some flashes of getting out of that slump, and tonight, she was huge."

Minster's Addi Inskeep got a layup 44 seconds into the second quarter, but Gabrielle Stober answered and Hughes added a putback to stretch the lead to 11. Lilly Barhorst got a hoop-and-harm to make it 16-8, and both teams were held scoreless for the next four minutes before Hughes put back a miss by Miller with seven seconds left in the half.

The Wildcats made just three shots in the first half, and though they only committed four turnovers, they shot 15% from the field, missing a slew of makeable shots.

"There's an issue of confidence shooting the ball, probably for everybody," Minster coach Mike Wiss said. "It's something that, shooters have to shoot. Right now they're not going in, and tonight we weren't close. We have to take a little time, take an extra half-second to sink into our knees, take a good shot, to develop confidence in your shot."

The two teams combined for seven points in the third quarter, and Minster finally made a push after Stober hit a shot to extend the lead to 10 midway through the fourth. Barhorst drove the paint for a layup, Lydia Mescher added a short jumper, and after Hughes hit a free throw, Barhorst sank a turnaround jumper to cut the lead to five with 2:56 to play.

Stober responded with a driving layup, then blocked a shot on the other end and Miller grabbed the rebound. Stober then fired a long pass to Hughes to beat the press and allow the Panthers to drain the clock.

"There in the fourth quarter, in crunch time, she kind of got it in her mind that she was going to start driving to the basket," coach Williamson said of Stober. "Not many girls can guard her one-on-one, and that's not saying anything about Minster's girls. She's just an outstanding player. She makes the team look good, and her teammates, makes it a lot easier for them as well."

After a foul, Knittle got the inbounds pass and sank a wide-open three to all but seal the game.

The Wildcats finished the night shooting just 9-of-44 from the field and 2-of-11 from the charity stripe.

"We knew we were going to have to come in and guard, because we knew they would," coach Williamson said. "We've seen probably four of their games, and they were trapping and pressing, just being physical defensively. So we knew we were going to have to do the same thing to make it as tough as possible on them, and I thought for the most part we did."

Minster's defense pressured Parkway into nine second-half turnovers and held the Panthers to 13-of-35 shooting.

"They're the number one team in the league, them and Marion," Wiss said. "You keep this group to 34 points, you think you've got a pretty good shot. Right now we just need to put the ball in the hole."

Hughes posted a double-double with 12 points and 21 rebounds. Barhorst had 10 points and six rebounds for Minster.

Minster returns home Saturday with a chance to bounce back against Anna. Parkway travels to Celina on Monday.