Erie-Prophetstown overcomes its history at Princeton, beats Tigers

Ryan Winckler did not exactly walk into Princeton’s Prouty Gym on Tuesday with a lot of good vibes.

He said it’s not an easy place to play and he can’t remember the last time his Erie-Prophetstown Panthers won there.

The Panthers eased their coach’s nerves, scoring the first six points of the fourth quarter to overcome a four-point deficit, and used a 15-3 advantage over the final frame to claim a 54-46 win in Three Rivers East play.

“I don’t think there’s been a time since we’ve been in this gym that we’ve been within 20 points. Princeton has owned us in the gym. This gym is just so historically hard to play in for us,” Winckler said.

“I don’t think anybody (feels good coming to Prouty Gym). I know the history of this gym. I know the type of basketball that has been played in this gym and I know the pride that the community and program and coach (Jason) Smith have in this gym. We told the boys ahead of time, this is literally going to be an absolute dogfight.”

Princeton freshman Julia Mucha shoots over Erie-Prophetstown's Connor Keegan in Tuesday's game at Prouty Gym. The visiting Panthers won 54-46. (Mike Vaughn)

The Tigers had a dog in the fight for most of the game. They led by as much as seven late in the first quarter and went up by six on a drive and 3-pointer by freshman Julian Mucha to go up 43-37 with 1:42 left in the third quarter.

Evan Steimle hit a couple late free throws to draw the Panthers within four at the end of the third quarter and then they went to work in the fourth.

E-P got hoops from Steimle, Connor Keegan and Ethan Lavine to open the fourth quarter, taking a 45-43 lead. Keegan scored again on a short pop and Steimle scored a three-point play with a drive and free throw to put E-P up 50-44.

Jack Oester scored on a back-door cut on an assist by Jackson Mason out of a timeout to make it 50-46. The Tigers did not score again, tallying just three points in the fourth quarter.

It was certainly a frustrating finish for the Tigers. who went cold in the fourth quarter and spent more than a minute chasing the Panthers around trying to foul them to get them to the free throw line.

“That’s been our MO all year. We can’t score in one quarter. Usually it’s the first or second quarter, honestly, not the third or fourth quarter,” Smith said. “I wasn’t worried about our offense at all in the fourth quarter. Gave up six straight points. When they get up by six or eight on the other side, it’s like you’re down by 20.”

Princeton senior Gavin Lanham takes in a layup against Erie-Prophetstown in Tuesday's game at Prouty Gym. The visiting Panthers won 54-46. (Mike Vaughn)

Winckler was proud of how his team finished.

“We were able to find a way down the stretch to get a few stops and we made some buckets. I thought our energy picked up in the fourth quarter to try to match what they were doing,” he said.

“It’s easier at the end of the year to not be as focused. But we weren’t. We took it serious. We watched a ton of film on them. Knew what they wanted to do. We just didn’t execute on the some of the things on the defensive end.”

Winckler was also impressed with the Tigers’ effort.

“Princeton has just consistently gotten better all year long. It’s fun to see what coach Smith and the boys have done,” he said. “I know it’s been kind of different thing trying to figure out what they do, but they just play so hard and so well. Their motion and their back cuts really gave us some problems. And we let them get to the right a lot, which they took advantage of every one of those things.”

Steimle led E-P (12-9, 5-4) with 18 points and Keegan added 11.

Gavin Lanham and Mucha each scored 12 points for the Tigers (4-23, 1-8).

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Erie-Prophetstown's Keegan Winckler defends against Princeton senior Stihl Brokaw Tuesday night at Prouty Gym. The visiting Panthers won 54-46. (Mike Vaughn)