Stars too fast for turnover-prone Panthers

JERSEYVILLE – Games against Centralia, Springfield and Belleville East at the Centralia Thanksgiving Tournament, in theory, prepared the Jersey Panthers for what they would be hit with Monday night. They did not.

The McCluer North Stars overwhelmed with their speed and pressure and rolled past the Panthers 72-50 at Havens Gym.

“This kind of speed wasn’t at Centralia,” Jersey coach Stote Reeder said. “Belleville East doesn’t even have this kind of speed. But we knew it was coming. Obviously, you can’t prepare for it. … It’s really hard to play against that kind of speed without depth at the guard position. We didn’t have that tonight.”

North, which came in averaging 71.3 points per game, improves to 4-0. Jersey saw its three-game winning streak halted and dips to 3-4 with Civic Memorial visiting Jerseyville on Friday for their Mississippi Valley Conference opener.

With guard Nathan Goldacker likely lost for the season with a knee injury sustained during football, and Garrett Carey (injury) and Will Medford (ill) also unavailable Monday, the Panthers could not cope with the Stars’ speed. North took an 18-6 lead after one quarter and had the Panthers down 33-20 at the half.

“We come in the locker room down 13 – probably should have been a lot more the way we played,” Reeder said. “But our kids are tough. Made just enough shots.”

And the Panthers fought back in the third quarter. Five straight points from Tucker Shalley and a putback from Alex Strebel drew Jersey within 35-29 with 5:15 left in the quarter.

But the Panthers missed a contested layup that would have trimmed the margin to four and the Stars responded with a devastating run. With Jersey turning the ball over on six of seven possessions, North reeled off a 15-0 run in a stretch of 103 seconds to put the Panthers down 50-29 late in the third quarter.

Jersey, which committed 27 turnovers leading directly to 44 points for North, got 15 points apiece from Shalley and Kurt Hall. Strebel chipped in six points for the Panthers, who matched the Stars with seven 3-pointers.

“I thought we really played good transition defense, I thought we played good half-court defense,” Reeder said. “In the first half, they had no baskets off the half court. They had them all off turnovers or offensive rebounds. Efficiency was our key to the game and we couldn’t hang onto the ball.”

The Panthers, who took a forfeit win over Alton on Friday, now hope lessons learned against the Stars will make Jersey a better team when rival CM visits Friday.

“It better,” Reeder said with a laugh. “It’s why we scheduled Alton on Friday. We have to play these teams. Our season ended last year with Springfield Lanphier, they’re just like these guys. I really do think it will make us better.”