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Offensive woes drag down Parker

JANESVILLE — A stagnant offense spoiled the Big Eight Conference home opener for Janesville Parker’s boys basketball team Friday night.

The Vikings managed only 13 field goals in a 54-47 loss to Middleton.

Parker (1-2, 0-2) cut a nine-point Middleton fourth-quarter lead down to four with three minutes left but could get no closer.

“Middleton did a nice job of pressuring the ball, but I didn’t think we played physical enough,” Parker coach Ryan Masterson said. “You have to come out and match the other team’s intensity, especially a team like Middleton.

“It’s frustrating because I thought it was a game for the taking. But we were just a bit off in a couple of areas tonight.”

Andrew Somerville had 19 points to lead Parker, but 13 of his points came from the free-throw line. The Cardinals put two and three defenders on Somerville at half court to try and force the Vikings to come up with other options offensively. The strategy worked as Parker turned the ball over 18 times in the game, including seven in the second quarter when Middleton opened up a six-point halftime lead.

Middleton led 42-33 early in the fourth before the Vikings rallied. Parker’s Decker Thompson hit a three-point basket to ignite the rally, and Somerville capped the 10-5 run with a pair of free throws with 3:11 left.

Middleton’s Eric Hagstrom, who led all scorers with 22, pushed the lead back to seven with a three-point play with 2:25 left. Parker got no closer than six the rest of the way.

“We got it back to four to make it a game again in the fourth, but I think we expended too much energy to get to that point,” Masterson said.

“I saw a few decent things we did, but we’ve got a lot to work on. I was really disappointed, at times, with our intensity—especially our defensive rebounding. They (Middleton) got a lot of second-chance shots because we weren’t doing a good job of blocking out and getting a body on somebody.”

Thompson added 12 points for Parker, which made only 13 of 40 shots from the field.

Parker hosts DeForest in a nonconference game Tuesday.

MIDDLETON 54, PARKER 47

Middleton (54)—Gardner, 1-0-3; Machmeier, 1-2-4; Schmidt, 4-2-10; Hagstrom, 9-3-22; Passini, 0-1-1; Rongstad, 1-0-2; Everson, 1-1-3; Buchanon, 1-3-5; Williams, 2-0-4. Totals: 20-12-54.

Parker (47)—Somerville, 3-13-19; Smith, 1-1-3; Albeck, 4-0-8; D. Thompson, 3-4-12; E. Thompson, 1-0-2; Bohler, 1-1-3. Totals: 13-19-47.

Middleton 14 12 11 17—54

Janesville Parker 10 10 12 15—47

Three-point goals—Middleton 2 (Hagstrom, Gardner), Parker 2 (D. Thompson 2). Free throws missed—Middleton 10, Parker 8. Total fouls—Middleton 22, Parker 20. Fouled out—Smith.

Sophomores—Middleton 50, Parker 33.