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By Levi Zimmerman
The Highland and Iowa-Grant boys basketball teams started their regular season schedule in a big way Tuesday night, as two, 18-minute halves didn't allow for enough time to decide a winner.
Instead, both sides ended regulation tied at 50-50 after plenty of excitement and dramatics.
The visiting Panthers managed to break away for a 31-21 lead after the first half, but the host Cardinals weren't going to have their home-opener spoiled that easily, as they clawed their way back to knot the game and call for an overtime period after Iowa-Grant missed two shots on their final possession.
Highland out-scored Iowa-Grant 29-19 in the second half.
Playing a man-to-man defensive scheme the entire first half and some of the second, Highland head coach Shaun Reuter switched to a 1-3-1 zone look, which proved to pay off.
The Panthers took the lead early in the overtime period after a rebound and put-back by senior Caden Pennekamp.
With less than one minute left and trailing, the Cardinals began intentionally fouling, sending Iowa-Grant shooters to the free -throw line for one-and-one opportunities.
Junior Ashton Schmitz made up for an earlier missed free throw by making the first and making the second, putting the Panthers on top 54-50.
After coming up empty on their next possession, Highland fouled I-G senior Jeran Rux with 26 seconds left, and the veteran split his appearance from the strike to make it a 55-50 game.
Coach Reuter and the Cardinals stayed with the hot hand of sophomore Michael Esser in one of their final possessions of overtime, and the youngster showed he's a competitor, as he drilled a deep three-point field goal to bring the score to 55-53.
Ultimately, the Panthers were able to make just enough free throws, and Highland simply ran out of time, as the Panthers escaped with a 58-53 win to start the year.
When sharing his thoughts following the overtime festivities, Iowa-Grant head coach Nolan Krentz said he initially felt good about how his team adapted to Highland's 1-3-1 look, but things started to unravel.
"Initially, I thought we handled it well, but then we struggled with our passes and shooting which allowed Highland to claw their way back into the game and eventually take the lead at 44-43," Krentz stated. "It was back and forth from there, as we missed two shots on our final possession of regulation, sending the game into overtime at 50-50. Senior Caden Pennekamp had a critical rebound and put-back in the extra session to put us up 52-50, and we made enough free-throws from there to prevail 58-53."
Although it was an exciting game to watch, it was also rather sloppy, as both sides made a multitude of mistakes, but that kind of level of error in the opening game of the season is to be expected, especially if you're starting three sophomores, which is what Highland's Coach Reuter did.
Reuter said, "We started young, and we played young." referring to Highland's many mistakes, including 24 team fouls, which is a lot if you don't know much about basketball, and it isn't good.
As such, Iowa-Grant took advantage of the free shots, making 20-of-31 free throws for a 65 percent mark as a team.
Coach Reuter shared, "Hopefully we learn from it. We need more intensity in practice. You can't just show up and expect to perform at a high level."
Coach Krentz said, "While it was the first game of the season and both teams made a ton of mistakes, it was nice to come out on top and start the season strong. We were able to make plays down the stretch and get stops on defense in overtime, something we struggled with in close games last season."
Iowa-Grant looks forward to hosting Argyle this Friday in another non-conference game.
Highland will stay home again tonight, as they host Boscobel in non-conference play.
SCORE BY HALVES
Iowa-Grant 31 19 8 58
Highland 21 29 3 53
BOX SCORE
IOWA-GRANT 58 (fg-ft-tp):
Schmitz 1-6-8, Steffl 9-5-25, Pennekamp 2-0-4, Cartwright 0-0-0, McIntosh 0-0-0, Popple 2-4-8, Rux 2-5-9, Hoge 2-0-4. Totals- 18-20/31-58. Fouls- 17
HIGHLAND 53:
Esser 10-1-22, Be. Smith 0-0-0, Frost 0-2-2, Healy 5-4-14, Dreischmeier 3-0-7, Kraisinger 4-0-8, Talo 0-0-0, Shemak 0-0-0, Lee 0-0-0. Totals- 22-7/14-53. Fouls- 24
3-point goals:
I-G (2)- Steffl 2
HIGHLAND (2)- Esser 1, Dreischmeier 1