It was a proper cat-fight when Middle Park took on Bennett on Thursday. The Middle Park Panthers fell just short of the Bennett Tigers by a score of 72-70. The Panthers were given a dose of their own medicine in this game as the Tigers apparently hadn't forgotten their defeat the last time these teams played back in February of 2024.
Middle Park lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Joey Gagnon, who dropped a double-double on 19 points and 14 rebounds. Middle Park is 9-1 when Gagnon posts ten or more boards, but 2-3 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Luke Paugh, who went 7 for 17 en route to 16 points and seven steals.
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Even though they lost, Middle Park smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 13 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least nine offensive boards in three consecutive matches.
It was another big night for Owen Stiers, who almost dropped a double-double on 36 points and nine rebounds for Bennett. That makes it three consecutive games in which Stiers has scored at least a third of Bennett's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Brody Hawes, who posted 12 points along with seven boards and three steals.
Middle Park's loss ended a six-game streak of away wins dating back to last season and brought them to 11-4. As for Bennett, the win was the sixth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 13-3.
Middle Park wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, an 83-26 victory against Platte Canyon on the 1st. Bennett has also already played their next contest, a 55-34 win against Arvada on the 3rd.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
