By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
In warm-ups, Wilmot Union High School junior Latrell Glass felt the flow of the ball coming off his fingertips at Delavan-Darien Dec. 13.
Add in a pep talk from Panthers’ senior captain Troy Hickey in the previous game, according to coach Jake Erbentraut, and Glass came out to shoot a school-record 49 points in Wilmot’s 89-84 overtime loss to the Comets.
Glass’ 49 points, third most in Wisconsin this year, supplanted Brandon Schattner’s 2014 record of 45 points.
“In our previous game against Elkhorn, one of our captains, Troy Hickey, challenged him in the locker room and reminded him that he is the best player on the court,” said Erbentraut. “That he was capable of taking over and that we were all waiting for him to get going.”
Glass, who went 16 of 26 from field goal range, drained nine of his 15 shots from the arc and converted all eight of his free throws.
Of his 49 points, 31 came in the second half, where the Panthers outscored the Comets 48-41 to force overtime.
Glass, who recalled the Hickey conversation, acknowledged the second half was the time to take control of the contest after trailing 36-29 at halftime.
“Troy told me I was the best player on the team, you need to be a leader, and you need to step up and be a leader,” said Glass. “We were down by 12 at one point, so I did what I could, making shot after shot.”
“I think he got into a groove and just couldn’t miss. It was very unassuming. I had no idea he was scoring that much,” Erbentraut said.
Despite Glass’ best efforts, the Panthers could not come away with the win, after the Comets outscored Wilmot 12-7 in overtime.
Glass, who scored two of his 49 in the extra frame, came away frustrated with the loss.
“He had the same feelings I had, a frustration for our loss,” said Erbentraut. “I know he was happy for his record and it’s well-deserved, but I think he wants team success before anything else and we’re not there yet.”
Glass agreed, adding the team needs to stay focused for the rest of the season.
“It felt nice to get the record, but I really wasn’t focusing on it after the loss,” he said. “It’s about focusing on what we could do better day after day.”
Meanwhile, the Panthers received 14 points from Jeremy Bruton, who went 2-of-8 from the arc and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.
Additionally, Josh Schattner had four steals and three rebounds for the Panthers.
“I thought we got some good contributions from Josh Schattner, who made some good defensive stops that led to our offense, and Jeremy Bruton did some damage against Delavan when we were making our run,” said Erbentraut.
However, the Panthers’ defense could not stop Ethan Cesarz, who had 14 rebounds and scored eight points.
Delavan-Darien’s Jayce Crull scored a game-high 20 points.
Other contributors for the Comets were Seth Grabow (15 points), Seth Kirsch (10), Mike Alder (10), Dakota Williams (14) and Logan Rios (12).
Following the SLC match, the Comets improved to 2-0 in conference and 4-2 overall.
Wilmot dropped to 1-4 (0-2 SLC).