Pat Harty

Your Prep Sports 

IOWA CITY – Masen Miller always draws a crowd on the basketball court due to his ability, and that was never more apparent than Saturday’s game against Monticello.

Regina’s talented senior guard faced double-teams from start to finish and it eventually took a toll.

Miller still scored 22 points, but he only made 2-of-8 shots from the field in the second half as Monticello pulled away for a 55-42 victory at Regina.

Miller made his first two shots of the game, both from 3-point range, and scored nine of Regina’s 11 points in the first quarter. He also scored 15 of Regina’s 20 points in the first half.

But then Monticello picked up its defensive intensity and had two, and sometimes three defenders, blanketing Miller, who has signed a national letter of intent with Truman State.

Meanwhile, Miller’s supporting cast struggled to get open looks as only four players scored for Regina.

Forwards Josh Dutchik and Chase Becker combined to make 7-of-11 field-goal attempts, but it was tough for both of them to get open looks. 

“It’s definitely difficult, but they run a great defense and credit to them,” Miller said. “But I feel like it opens up my teammates and we’ll knock down shots and we’ll work on it a little bit more in practice and we’ll be ready for next time.”

The loss of junior forward Ashton Cook to a left leg injury has made it easier for opposing defenses to focus on Miller. The 6-foot-5 Cook is Regina’s second leading scorer and a top defender, so his absence has left a major void.

“A little bit, obviously,” Miller said. “But that’s not an excuse. We’ve had enough games and enough practice where we’ve kind of figured it out by now what needs to happen and how we need to execute, and we just have to go out and do it.”

Regina coach Jared Galpin also refused to use Cook’s absence as an excuse for what happened on Saturday.

“I could say that, but Monticello has a real good team and we’ve got five, six games under our belt since Ashton has been hurt,” Galpin said. “They are somewhat still adjusting, but they’ve also played ball.

“We’re two-thirds through the season, so they know what to do. It’s just a matter of applying it on a consistent basis and that’s what we’re still working on.”

Monticello started the third quarter on an 11-4 scoring run that caused its lead to swell to 41-24.

The score was 45-30 after three quarters, and Regina never came closer than 11 points in the fourth quarter.

“It’s a great program and they played a great game and got us,” Miller said.

Freshman point guard Tate Petersen led Monticello with 22 points, and with six 3-point baskets. The Panthers made 10 3-point baskets overall, while Regina only made five, including four by Miller, three of which came in the first quarter.

“They’re a very good team and they’ve got guys that can shoot the ball,” Galpin said. “They execute their stuff well.”

The Panthers also committed just four fouls, and as a result, Regina only attempted four free throws, making three.

“We had some breakdowns on defense that led to some open shots, and then offensively, they doubled Masen and basically tried to take the ball out of his hands.” Galpin said.

Galpin said the important thing is to learn from Saturday’s loss, and to keep gaining confidence without Cook in the lineup.

Cook is out indefinitely at this stage.

“We’re just trying to get guys comfortable under the pressure that they were feeling, to relax and make the correct read and correct play,” Galpin said. “We’re going to learn from this game, and we could potentially have them in a district game. So we’re going to learn from it and our guys will respond from this.”

Monticello   15  15  15  10  –  55

Regina         11   9   10  12  –  42

Monticello (55) – Justin Recker 5-8 2-2 12, Luke Lambert 5-10 3-5 16, Tate Petersen 7-13 2-6 22, Ty Kehoe 0-0 0-0 0, Connor Lambert 1-4 0-0 3, Devin Kraus 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-37 7-13

Regina (42) – Masen Miller 8-21 2-2 22, Chase Becker 3-5 0-0 6, Josh Dutchik 4-6 0-0 8, Danny Molony 0-1 0-0 0, Coltrae Kerschen 0-1 0-0 0, Casey Daniel 2-2 1-2 6, Andrew Wiese 0-0 0-0 0, Nic Hein 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-37 3-4 42.

3-point goals – Monticello 10 (Tate Peterson 6, Luke Lambert 3, Connor Lambert); Regina 5 (Miller, Daniel). Fouls – Monticello 4; Regina 12.