The Huskies put in quite an effort Saturday night against the Fillmore Central Panthers, but took a hard loss in double overtime 40-42.
The Huskies started the game well and had an early 11-3 second quarter lead. They did let the Panthers back in the game and they would eventually tie it up 13-13 with two minutes left in the first half. The Huskies hit a lull in the second quarter as they were outscored by the Panthers, 4-13 and ended the half trailing 13-16.
The third quarter brought more struggles for Heartland and they went into the fourth quarter behind 18-25 due to a Panther shot falling as the clock ran out.
The Huskies would continue to trail the entire fourth quarter, but climbed back into the ballgame from a nine point deficit. They hit some free throws and had some big baskets fall from Junior, Brent Regier and Freshman, Jordan Heinrichs. As the clock wound down to 17.5 second remaining in the game, the Huskies missed a couple shots, they got their own rebound and Heinrichs drove through the lane and put up the shot and knocked it down to cut the Panther lead; 32-33 with 12.2 second left in regulation.
The Huskies were called with a foul sending the Panthers to the line with 9.8 seconds left. The Panthers went 1-1, giving the Huskies the ball back down by two. Heartland pushed it up the court and got the ball to Regier who made a great clutch layup that tied the game 34-34 and sent it into overtime.
The Huskies let the Panthers take an early overtime lead, but fought back again with Heinrichs making a pivotal steal and converted on the fast break to tie it back up 37-37. The teams exchanged hitting free throws and the Panthers had the ball as time ran out, but could not knock it down, which sent the game into its second OT.
Both teams were showing signs of fatigue and the Huskies were down to only five players as three had fouled out. With 37 seconds left and the game tied at 40-40 the Huskies had possession and were looking for the last shot, but a loose ball ending in a traveling call gave the ball back to the Panthers. There was just enough time on the clock for the Panthers to take it down the court and drive the baseline and hit a layup to go up 40-42 with just seconds remaining. Heinrichs, then threw up a desperation half court shot as the buzzer sounded, but it did not connect and the Huskies took the loss.
It was a physical game and the Huskies had trouble connecting from the free throw line going 19-33. Every Huskie in uniform scored in the game, but it was Regier who led the team with 12 points and Heinrichs added nine.
The Huskies will be back on the court tomorrow night as they take on High Plains. Remember, if you can not make the game, you can follow our LIVE blog on the Huskie Sports Network on HeartlandBeat.com.
Boys Basketball: Heartland vs Fillmore Central
Heartland Huskies (4-6) –  9   4   5   16   5  1 –  40
Fillmore Central Panthers (2-11)Â – Â 3 Â Â 13 Â Â 9 Â Â 9 Â Â 5 Â Â 3 – Â 42
Huskie Scorers: B. Regier 12, J. Heinrichs 9, T. Brown 5, C. Kroeker 4, C. Nickels 4, C. Brown 2, M. Brune 2, C. Siebert 2
Panther Scorers: Ky. Karcher 17, D. Loseke 9, Ku. Karcher 7, T. Birky 4, C. Monteforte 3, D. Graham 2
Photos Courtesy of Deb Mierau
