For the better part of three quarters Monday night, Putnam County went toe to toe with the bigger Rock Falls team.

But as the fourth quarter came around, the Rockets size began to wear the Panthers down, coming away with the 62-43 victory on Day 2 of the Colmone Classic at Hall High School.

“We have a young team, but we kept after it and I think we just started to wear them down and were able to pull away,” Rock Falls coach Zach Sandrock said.

Rock Falls led 40-34 heading into final eight minutes when Cole Mulnix hit the shot in the paint and then Phillip Griffith Jr. hit the step-back 3-pointer to push the Rockets lead to 45-34.

Moments later it was an easy drive and layup from Max Burns before Mulnix got the steal and pass ahead to Connor South to extend the Rockets lead to 50-46.

Turnovers and rebounding started being turned into points for the Rockets as South hit the jumper for a 52-40 edge.

Z’Viyon Martin drained the 3-pointer for the Rockets and Alan Castro managed a tough shot in the lane for the Panthers, but the deficit was 57-40.

Cooper South then hit a free throw and jump shot as Rock Falls came away with the 62-43 victory over the Panthers.

At the start, the Panthers showed they were not intimidated as Castro got the rebound and the stick back to give Panthers a 7-6 lead. A drive and bunny shot from Burns helped give Rock Falls a 9-8 lead after the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Jacob Furar turned the ball over and Cole Heald converted into a layup and moments later another turnover led to Mulnix collecting the rebound and put back for a 13-8 Rockets lead.

Traxton Mattingly drained the long range shot for PC and then a put back from teammate Braden Bickerman tied the game at 15.

“Traxton (Mattingly) had a really nice night for us with 15 points,” Panthers coach Jared Sale said. “It seemed like every time RockFalls would start to pull away he would hit a 3-pointer for us.”

Mattingly kept the Panthers close as he hit another 3-pointer moments later that once again tied the game at 18.

But it was Mulnix down low using his size to get the put back and the foul for the 3-point play that gave Rock Falls the 24-20 lead at the break.

The Rockets started the third quarter strong looking to put this one away early in the second half. Owen Laws hit the jumper over the Panthers’ defenders and Mulnix added the 3-pointer to make it 31-22.

Once again, Mattingly came through for the Panthers with a floater in the lane along with a pair of free throws and a stick back from Stunkel for one of his 12 rebounds as Putnam County cut the deficit to 40-34 heading into the fourth.

“Yeah the size just wore us down in the end,” Sale said. “Aside from Traxton, I thought Johnathon Stunkel showed his toughness coming away with 12 points against a bigger team like Rock Falls.”

For the game, it was Mattingly with 15 points to go along with 12 boards from Stunkel. Rock Falls was led by Heald with 13 points and 11 from Martin.

IVC 59, Bureau Valley 51: In the first game of the evening, it was Grey Ghosts getting the better of the Storm, outscoring BV 17-11 in the fourth quarter.

The Storm’s Logan Philhower led all scorers with 23 points while teammate Carson Gruber added 11.