Savages Storm Past Panthers with 16 from Sophomore Solon Yates

PACKWOOD—On January 6, the Pekin Panthers hosted the Sigourney Savages for a non-conference matchup. The Savages defeated the Panthers by a final score of 53-45.

The first half was a back and forth battle that amounted to a Pekin three point lead with under five seconds left on the clock. Sigourney junior Cole McKay grabbed the inbounds and headed down the court, as time expired McKay heaved a prayer from half court. His prayer was answered as the ball banked in, and the game was tied at 17 apiece. 

The Savages' third quarter was the difference in this game. They shot the lights out en route to out-scoring the Panthers 29-10.

The Panthers mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to climb back. The Savages took the game by a final score of 53-45.

Sophomore Solon Yates and junior Issac Bruns were huge catalysts for the Savages third quarter production. Bruns started the quarter off with five points right away. Solon Yates knocked down a pair of threes, and found an open layup in transition. In total, Bruns and Yates totaled 13 of the 29 total points scored from the Savages in the third quarter.

Junior Issac Bruns spoke on the big third quarter with, “My teammates helped a lot. I didn’t have the best first half, so the defense was sticking to my teammates, so it opened up everything for me.”

Sophomore Solon Yates was asked if he could tell the shot was going in when it left his hands in the third quarter, and he responded with, “Yes. It definitely helped that all my teammates were making their shots as well.” 

Sigoureny Head Coach Mitch Eslick spoke on the third quarter with, “Going back to even before the third quarter, I thought Cole McKay’s banked in three really sparked us. It gave us some light. We played last night, and it is an afternoon game. You are going through the motions. They are a really good defensive team, and we couldn’t get anything going.”

Coach Eslick went on to say, “Overall, that is about the best we could play on both ends. Pekin is a very good team, and we outscored them by 19 in a quarter. That is a pretty darn good effort. We have some stuff to clean up from late in the game, but I thought it was a really nice win for us.”

Bruns and Yates are the two returning starters for the Savages. Bruns spoke on what it means to him, and the team as a whole, to see his teammates getting more comfortable in the starting spot as, “It makes me really proud of how far they have come because they contribute a ton to this team’s success. Obviously, Solon and I have the most experience and contribute a lot, but sometimes Solon and I aren’t the leading scorers and they are. That is really fun to watch.”

Yates shared a similar sentiment to Bruns with, “It’s nice. You see how much work they put in over the summer. Even like last year, John (Berg) worked a lot. He might be the most improved player in the SICL.”

As the season heads towards its end, Bruns lives by one mentality, “Play our hearts out. Even if we lose, just 100%.”

The Savages hold an overall record 6-5 with a conference record of 4-5. They will return to action on January 9, when they visit the Colfax-Mingo Tigerhawks.