Sophomore Colin Connor was Johnny-on-the-spot for the Iowa-Grant boys’ basketball team last Tuesday night.
     Connor grabbed an offensive putback and scored with 3.6 seconds left to lift the visiting Panthers to a stunning 51-50 come-from-behind, non-conference victory at Lancaster.
     Lancaster lead by four at 50-46 with 1:35 left to play and appeared to be well on its way to victory, especially after I-G committed a turnover with 1:19 to play.
     But while the Arrows were attempting to run clock while looking to get fouled Lancaster’s Justin Hore inexplicably challenged Connor with a shot in the post.
     Connor blocked the Lancaster senior’s shot attempt and sophomore guard T.J. Anderson buried a clutch 3-pointer to pull the Panthers within a point with 55 seconds left.
     On the Arrows’ ensuring possession Hore once again attacked the rim. This time, he was denied by sophomore Wilder Olson with just 39 seconds left.
     Iowa-Grant called a timeout and coach Toby Tripalin drew up an isolation play for his senior point guard Cashton Laufenberg.
     But when Laufenberg’s jumper bounded off the rim wide left, Conner was right there to grabbed the carom and score the game winner.
     Lancaster called back-to-back timeouts to set up a final play, but Kile Jerrett’s three was off the mark and Matt Ihm’s last-second tip was also no good.
     Anderson, who scored 15 points in the second half, finished with a game-high 19 points. Laufenberg scored 13 points and Connor finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
     This past Saturday the Iowa-Grant suffered a 62-39 Southwestern Wisconsin Activities League loss to Darlington as part of the eight-game SWAL Jamboree, held at UW-Platteville’s Bo Ryan Court in Williams Fieldhouse.
     The Panthers shot just 35.3 (6-of-17) in the first half and fell behind 35-17.
     Darlington senior Brandon Hardyman poured in a game-high 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the win.
     Sophomore T.J. Anderson had 12 points and two assists to lead I-G. Colin Connor added 10 points and seven rebounds.
     The Panthers will host Riverdale (1-11, 0-6) this Friday.

Iowa-Grant 51, Lancaster 50
(from Tuesday, Jan. 10 @ Lancaster)
Iowa-Grant    3     7      9      7    -  63
Lancaster    27    17    15    13    -  74
Iowa-Grant (4-6) - Cashton Laufenberg 13, Garret Nagel 2, Logan Leverton 2, T.J. Anderson 19, Eli Wienkes 4, Colin Connor 10, Wilder Olson 1. Totals - 19, 9-15 51.
Lancaster (4-6) - Schnepper 6, Ihm 5, Day 5, Hore 13, Jerrett 12, Thole 3, Zenz 2, Recker 2. Totals - 19 8-17 50.
3-point goals - IG: 4 (Anderson 4); L: 4 (Ihm, Day, Hore, Tholes). Team fouls - IG: 15, L: 17. Fouled out - none.
 
Darlington 62, Iowa-Grant 39
(from Saturday, Jan. 14 @ UW-Platteville)
Iowa-Grant    10      7    16      6    -  39
Darlington     16    19    16    11    -  62
Iowa-Grant (4-7, 1-5) - Cashton Laufenberg 11, Garret Nagel 2, T.J. Anderson 12, Tony Deutsch 2, Zach Price 2, Colin Connor 10, Wilder Olson 2. Totals - 15-37 5-9 39.
Darlington (7-5, 3-3) - Flescher 4, Whalen 4, Hardyman 29, Miehe 8, McArthur 12, Sturtz 1, Nyffenegger 2, Heinberg 2. Totals - 22-45 14-19 62.
3-point goals - IG: 4 (Laufenberg 2, Anderson 2); D: 4 (Hardyman 3, McArthur 1). Team fouls - IG: 17, D: 13. Fouled out - none.