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As is the case with many basketball games, the third quarter proves key in determining the final outcome.
That was the situation again when the Iowa-Grant boys visited Mineral Point Thursday for the SWAL conference and regular season finale.
With Point holding a slim 22-19 halftime advantage, the home team outscored the visitors 24-11 in the third and cruised the rest of the way to the 59-42 win.
Travis Steffes got his big night going right off the bat, scoring the game's first points. Each team hit two threes in the first quarter--Trevor Wendhausen and Logan Benish for Point, and Garrett Nagel and Cashton Laufenberg for Iowa-Grant--as the teams were all knotted up at 10 each after one.
Dakota Poad and Nagel exchanged triples to start the second, and the Panthers jumped in front with baskets and free throws from Laufenberg and Wilder Olson. The Pointers were able to take a 22-19 lead at half, thanks in large part to four straight points from Dakota Poad, as well as the final five points from Sy Staver.
Laufenberg closed the Panther deficit to 22-21 to begin the second half, but it would be all downhill for IG after that. Mineral Point went on a 13-2 run that featured two triples from Wendhausen and an old-fashioned three point play from Ian Ewers. Alec Schmitz added a three, and Staver and Cory Schultz each scored in the final minute, as the home team saw its lead balloon to 46-30 by the end of three.
Taylor Anderson and Laufenberg tried to rally the Panther troops with a 9-0 burst in the fourth as Iowa-Grant crawled within 51-41 with 3:22 remaining. The Pointers put the clamps down from there on out and didn't allow another IG field goal.
Poad was the top Pointer with 13 and Steffes added 11. Steffes finished with a double-double as well.
Laufenberg led all scorers with 14.
"A third quarter collapse. We lost our intensity and our energy that we had in the first half," said Panther coach Toby Tripalin. "We let them pretty much do whatever they wanted in the third quarter, and this game turned out very similar to the first time we played them, which is very disappointing that we couldn't improve since then. We just couldn't execute offensively in the second half."
"This was a good team effort," said Pointer coach Dan Burreson. "We had good balance offensively, and were able to find the open man, whoever that might be. We moved the ball well, but we really stepped up our defense in the third quarter and came out of the half with good intensity. I think the guys felt the significance of this being the last regular season home game, and we played a full 32 minutes."
This was the last regular season home game for the Pointers, who honored seniors Poad, Steffes, Benish, Luke Radtke, and Kirk White before the game. "It was nice that the seniors could end their home career on a high note, and finish the game all on the floor together. All but one scored, and Kirk scored in our last game against Cuba City. They've put a lot of time into it, and it's nice they could be rewarded in the end," said Burreson.
Mineral Point finished the regular season with a 7-7 SWAL record, good for fourth place, and 14-8 overall. Iowa-Grant concluded at 4-10 in the SWAL, good for seventh place, and 7-15 overall.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
IG: 10 9 11 12--42
MP: 10 12 24 13--59
BOX SCORE
IOWA-GRANT (fg-ft-tp) 42: Anderson 3-2/8-8, Conner 1-0-2, Laufenberg 5-3/4-14, Leverton 1-0-2, Nagel 3-1/2-9, Olson 3-1/2-7. Totals: 16-7/16-42. Fouls: 13. Three pointers: Nagel 2, Laufenberg 1.
MINERAL POINT 59: Staver 2-3/3-7, Poad 5-2/2-13, Benish 1-0-3, Ewers 3-2/2-8, Radtke 1-0-3, Schmitz 1-0-3, Wendhausen 3-0-9, Steffes 4-3/4-11, Schultz 1-0-2. Totals: 21-10/11-59. Fouls: 16. Three pointers: Wendhausen 3, Benish 1, Poad 1, Radtke 1, Schmitz 1.