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St. Marys' Clayton Rhodes (4) goes between Parkway's Eli Schumm (22) and Jacoby Triplett (5) for a basket during Tuesday's game at Panther Gymnasium in Rockford.
ROCKFORD - When you're due, you're due.
St. Marys boys basketball coach Tim Barga felt as such after his Roughriders outlasted a furious rally from Parkway to leave Panther Gymnasium with a 54-51 win, snapping St. Marys' six-game losing streak.
"It feels good to win a game," said Barga, whose team now sits at 2-7. "It's been a long time, we've only won two so far. But we've got good kids and we got good players."
After Parkway opened the scoring on an Eli Schumm 3-pointer, St. Marys scored seven of the next eight to take a 7-4 lead with 4:45 left in the first quarter. Cayden Geiger paced the Roughriders with eight points in the quarter en route to a 17-11 St. Marys lead at the horn.
"We did not defend as well as we needed to," Parkway coach Doug Hughes said of the opening quarter. "They got good looks time and time again."
The barrage continued early into the second quarter. A pair of jumpers from Blake Dingledine and Geiger gave the visitors a 21-13 lead, with the second coming off an inbounds play. It forced Parkway timeout with 5:22 left in the half.
St. Marys' Cayden Geiger (2) shoots over Parkway's Ethan Pond.
The quick break worked wonders for the Panthers, who outscored the Riders 9-3 to end the half. Despite just three made field goals in the quarter, it was Schumm and Ethan Stolly's threes that kept it close. Schumm's came with 40 seconds left in the half, and it cut the margin to just two, 24-22 at the half.
A poor end to the half did not take away from the job St. Marys did inside on Parkway. The Riders held a 16-8 rebounding advantage and were nine-of-21 from the field. Geiger led the team with 10 points at the break.
Parkway was still searching for a sense of comfort in the contest. The Panthers were just over 30% from the field (six-of-18) in the half, but were led by Schumm's nine on a perfect three-for-three mark. Cohen Korte, who had a team-high 24 points in Parkway's win over Adams Central, was held to just three points, all from the charity stripe.
While St. Marys "let" Parkway back into the game in the second quarter, it was all Riders in the third. 3-pointers from Reese Howell and Dingledine made it a 30-25 game two minutes into the quarter. Kasey Gross added to the party with a three of his own, and it was an eight-point game.
A three from guard Bosten Korte cut the margin, but it grew back to eight on a basket from Aiden Meinerding. Korte responded back with a three from the corner with 2:30 left in the quarter, Parkway's last points of the quarter.
With the score 36-31, St. Marys made a trio of free-throws and ended the quarter with a buzzer-beating three from Gross. Heading into the fourth, St. Marys held a 42-31 lead after an 18-9 run during the quarter.
The lead grew to 13 after a layup from Dingledine to open the final frame. Bosten Korte cut the lead to 45-37 after a pair of threes, and forced a timeout from the Riders. An Ethan Pond steal led to a layup from Triplett and the margin was just six with 5:15 left.
Parkway's Jacoby Triplett puts up a shot against St. Marys.
Parkway kept chipping away with a three from Pond to make the score 47-42, and Bosten Korte kept firing away. His three from the corner made it a one-point game, 47-46 and the Riders called another timeout with 2 minutes left.
A free throw from Geiger pushed the lead back up to two, but Pond tied it on the next possession after he fought for a rebound and put back.
70 seconds remained in the game when Geiger made a fadeaway to put St. Marys back on top 50-48. Chaos followed, as Parkway was called for a carry when they dribbled the ball up the court. It gave St. Marys the ball, and clutch free throws eventually made it a 54-51 game with five seconds left.
Needing a three, Schumm's shot hit the backboard, then the rim, and then the floor shy of the hoop. St. Marys had hung on despite Parkway outscoring the Riders 20-12 in the final quarter.
Parkway was led by 18 points from Bosten Korte and 10 from Pond. The issue was inside for the Panthers, who got out-rebounded 25-16 in the contest.
The Riders had all five starters score, while the trio of Geiger, Dingledine, and Gross all scored 10 or more. The big key was turnovers. After having more than 20 against New Bremen last game, St. Marys had just 12.
"The kids stepped up," Barga said. "Even the guys on the bench helped us prepare and they got us to where we were able to put it away. It took everybody tonight."
