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Parker tumbles to La Follette

JANESVILLE — The rebuilding of the Janesville Parker High boys basketball program is a work in progress.

Friday night, the Vikings didn’t get much accomplished.

A whopping 29 turnovers and 13 missed free throws led to a 66-45 Big Eight Conference loss to Madison La Follette.

Parker (0-9, 0-7) hung tough for a half, but could not overcome the turnover bug in a sloppy second half.

“We really haven’t had that kind of problem all year,” Parker first-year coach Ryan Masterson said of his team’s inability to protect the ball. “That’s the most disappointing thing. La Follette is very physical, but we tried to dribble through everything instead of making the extra pass.

“I can’t fault the effort, but we took a couple of steps back in the progress we were making by not playing very well the second half.”

The Vikings trailed 31-27 at half thanks to 10 first-half points from sophomore Creed Knutson. The Lancers (2-6, 2-5) held the Vikings to one field goal in the third quarter in opening up a 12-point lead. Parker turned the ball over 11 times in the third, including on four straight possessions.

Brett Klinkner, who was held scoreless in the first half, erupted for 17 points for La Follette in the second half. The 6-foot senior drained four three-point baskets to open the fourth quarter, including three straight possessions, as the Lancers quickly pushed the margin to 20.

“That bothers me,” Masterson said of Klinkner’s outburst, “because we went man-to-man in the second half and we lost track of him more in man than we did in the zone.

“And in the second half, we didn’t run our offense very well, either. We took some poor shots got away from what was working the first half.”

Cody Simonson led the Vikings in scoring with 14, while Knutson added 11, despite managing only a free throw in the second half.

Maher Hakim finished with 12 points for the Lancers, and Chris Redman chipped in 10.

LA FOLLETTE 66, PARKER 45

La Follette (66)—Dybevik, 0-1-1; Klinkner, 6-1-17; Hakim, 2-7-12; Redman, 4-1-10; Elliot, 1-3-5; Waeffler, 2-0-4; Fuller, 2-1-5; Padgett, 2-1-5; Singh, 1-5-7. Totals: 20-18-66.

Parker (45)—Simonson, 5-3-14; Teubert, 1-3-5; Bouska, 1-1-3; C. Knutson, 4-1-11; J. Knutson, 2-5-9; Husen, 1-0-2; Anderson, 0-1-1. Totals: 14-14-45.

Madison La Follette 15 16 13 22—66

Janesville Parker 10 17 5 13—45

Three-point goals—La Follette 6 (Klinkner 4, Hakim, Redman), Parker 3 (C. Knutson 2, Simonson). Free throws missed—La Follette 7, Parker 13. Total fouls—La Follette 24, Parker 19.

Sophomores—La Follette 49, Parker 30.