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Iowa-Grant's boys basketball team knew it was going to be a tough road to hoe against Darlington when they didn't have head coach Toby Triplane on the bench, but then right before the game they lost 6'6" 300 lb. center Colin Conner - that made it an even higher mountain to climb.
Tripalin had lost one of his best friends die earlier in the week due to a blood clot and the wake was Friday night in Madison.
Conner was injured in a freak accident just prior to the game and his wound required stitches,
"There was a lot going on and I was coaching the JV," said Panther Assistant Coach Curt Hildreth. "Anytime you take a 6'6" guy out of the middle it opens up the inside."
In a defensive battle, the Panthers held the lead for three quarters and were up 26-22, but then the Redbirds made some changes.
They went from a 1-3-1 zone to a man-to-man and outscored I-G 20-2 in the final frame for a 42-28 SWAL win.
The Panthers held a modest 5-4 lead at the end of the first quarter with Isaac Anderson hitting a three pointer and his brother TJ adding a duce.
Redbird Cole McDonald hit two buckets for his team.
Then came an outburst with I-
G scoring 14 points, on threes by the Andersons and twos from each TJ, Trent Milliken, Collin Price and Brett Wunderlin.
The Birds hit two threes and three twos in that frame, but Iowa-Grant held the lead at the intermission at 19-16.
They held a 7-6 edge in period three thanks to a pair of treys by Isaac and TJ sinking a free throw and led 26-22.
Then came the switch in defense by Darlington and a press.
McDonald had eight points in the fourth, including six straight free throws, Michael Ruf added a pair of baskets and was 2x4 from the charity stripe, Cade Hardyman nailed a bucket and Dane Siegenthaler was 2x4 from the line for their 20 points.
I-G could only counter with a lone two pointer from TJ Anderson."
"We played pretty well against their 1-3-1, but when they switched to man that's when we missed a guy like Colin inside - he would've been our go to guy," Hildreth pointed out. "Obviously he's a leader and our kids look to him. Their (Darlington's) press gave them points too. We weren't ball faking enough an had too many turnovers. Also, Darlington made some pretty tough shots."
On the night, Darlington's McDonald led all scorers with 16 points, eight coming in the final quarter and Ruf added 10.
The Panthers were paced by Isaac Anderson's four three pointers for 12 markers with TJ adding 10 - that was 22 of their 28 points scored.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
D 4 12 6 20-42
IG 5 14 7 2-28
BOX SCORE
Darlington 42 (fg, ft, tp) Cody Hardyman 0-0-0, Trumble 0-0-0, Wiegel 1-0/2-2, Cade Hardyman 2-0-4, Zander 0-0-0, Siegenthaler 0-2/4-2, McDonald 5-6/8-16, Muhlstein 1-0-3, Whalen 0-0-0, Erickson1-0-3, Ruf 4-2/4-10. Totals 14-12/20-42. F6. 3-pointers: Muhlstein 1, Erickson 1.
Iowa-Grant 28: Johnson 0-0-0, Wunderlin 1-0-2, Curtis 0-0-0, I. Anderson 4-0-12, Spurley 0-0-0, Milliken 1-0-2, Price 1-0-2, Silvers 0-0-0, TJ Anderson 4-1/2-10, Francis 0-0-0, Thomas 0-0-0. Totals 11-1/2-28. F-14. 3-pointers: I. Anderson 4, TJ Anderson 1.