The Phillipsburg Panthers suffered their closest loss yet this season on Friday. They fell just short of Norton by a score of 44-42. It was the first time this season that Phillipsburg let down their fans at home.
Caden Seems and Rhett Shelton certainly did their best on Friday to try and avoid the loss. Seems dropped a double-double on 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Shelton scored 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Rad Rodriguez, who scored five points along with three steals.
Even though they lost, Phillipsburg smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 11 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Norton only pulled down an offensive rebound.
Norton's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Eli Jones, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds and three steals. Jones is absolutely dominating the point category: he's posted at least 15 every time he's taken the court this season. Another player making a difference was Rylen Murray, who scored ten points.
Phillipsburg's loss ended a four-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 5-4. As for Norton, the victory was the fifth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 7-1.
Both squads are looking forward to the support of their home crowds in their upcoming games. Phillipsburg will get a bit of extra time to process the loss as their next game is a ways off. They'll take on Hoisington at 7:30 p.m. on January 23rd. Norton will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Ellis at 7:00 p.m. on January 26th. Ellis will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Kansas Rankings (they are ranked 247th, while Norton is ranked 68th).
