Entering the night 5 points shy of the milestone, Zick’s 1,000th point came with just under five minutes to play in the first half. Driving over the middle into the paint, Zick jumped into the air to kick out a pass before getting the ball back in the corner for a nothing-but-net 3. The game was paused briefly to recognize the milestone moment with TMB in possession of a 34-23 lead.

“I just knew I couldn’t think about the next shot. I just had to play my game and be me, so when I shot it, I knew it was going in,” Zick said. “Obviously [the milestone] was on my mind, but I know what I can do and I knew I could get 5 points.”

TMB has been ripe with 1,000-point scorers as of late, with last year’s senior class including a pair of players to reach the milestone in Trevor Smith and Alex Munson.

“It’s really hard to get 1,000 in high school. I mean, around here, it doesn’t seem like it right now because it’s happened the last three years, but it is,” TMB head coach Ryan Kruse said. “To be a part of that is just pretty fun for me. I’m very proud of [Zick], he’s earned every accomplishment that he has. He’s worked his butt off to get where he is.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton forward Aiden Sanow shoots a midrange jumper during a Camden Conference boys basketball game against Yellow Medicine East, Tuesday in Tracy.

“It means a lot to be compared to those guys. It’s really meaningful, I give credit to my teammates and coaches,” Zick said.

In addition to Zick, the Panthers also celebrated seniors Sy Sanders, Connor Lanoue and Eli Lightfoot ahead of their final regular-season home game.

All four seniors had their fingerprints all over the win. In addition to Zick’s 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting from the field with three 3-pointers, he also dished out seven assists on one turnover with five rebounds, three steals and a block. Lanoue dished out a game-high nine assists on three turnovers with 17 points, while Sanders and Lightfoot scored 11 and 8 points, respectively.

Sanders and Lightfoot were also the Panthers’ leaders on the offensive glass with five and three offensive boards, respectively.

“They’ve just worked hard all year. I never questioned that. And they just play together,” coach Kruse said. “They don’t care if some nights, Griff might score 35, and some nights we might have four or five guys around 10. Nobody seems to care as long as we’re playing well, so it’s just a good group of guys that have been working hard.”

Photo by Jake McNeill: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton guard Braden Morgan passes the ball to Griffin Zick in the corner during the first half of a Camden Conference boys basketball game against Yellow Medicine East, Tuesday in Tracy.

Lanoue had the hot hand early for TMB, scoring each of the Panthers’ first 6 points to give TMB a 6-2 lead. All of his points over the opening stretch came via layup attempts, with 2 of those points coming via free throws after he was fouled on a transition layup attempt after picking a Sting player’s pocket.

YME kept the game within a few points until Aiden Sanow started to heat up with a midrange jumper and a 3 to bring the Panther advantage to 15-9, prompting a YME timeout.

TMB took its first double-digit lead eight minutes into the game. Zick jumped a passing lane for a steal, setting up an easy transition layup. YME went on to lead 46-31 at halftime.

Gunnar Fagen led the Sting offensively with 23 points on 11 of 17 shooting. He also grabbed four rebounds, blocked a shot, and his four assists were tied with Gavin Torvik for second on the team, behind Kolten Blankenhagen’s seven.

YME was out a handful of key starters due to injuries, and as such tried to put an emphasis on taking care of the ball in a game against a TMB squad that makes teams pay for bad passes. The Sting ran a different offensive style than they’re used to running as a result of the missing players, YME head coach Logan DeBlieck said, adding that they worked hard to get some good open looks for younger, less experienced players.

Among the players who had an increased role on the day was Jack Mensink, who normally comes off the bench but made his presence known with a game-high nine total rebounds along with 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. He was a perfect 6 of 6 on shots from inside the 3-point line.

“[Mensink] really was, I felt, much more physical inside than the guys who were defending him. He was able to box his guy out, get good looks, and when he was open, he scored around the rim,” DeBlieck said. “That’s something we expect out of him, but in an increased role, those numbers kind of escalated a little bit.”

The Sting came out strong in the second half, cutting the deficit to as few as 7 points. Still, TMB kept YME at bay and pulled away in the final five minutes to lead by as many as 23 points.

Sanow and Zick each had three steals in the game, leading the Panthers to an 11-19 edge in the turnover battle. Jackson Kruse also made an impact on the offensive end for TMB with 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting.

The win marks the third in a row for TMB, which had lost six straight games prior to the recent win streak. The skid was in part due to a strong stretch of schedule — three of those losses came to teams with a 17-6 or better record, including No. 6 Hills-Beaver Creek — but the recent success still shows progress.

“It’s nice to get a couple wins in a row. We just haven’t been able to do that for a while, so I feel like we’ve been getting better and it’s showing now,” coach Kruse said. “Hopefully we can go into Springfield, play well, and then in the playoffs.”

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton improves to 11-14 with the win. The Panthers look to finish their regular season on a high note when they go on the road to take on a strong Springfield squad (17-5) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

YME finishes its regular season at 3-21 and now awaits seeding for the Section 3A tournament. The play-in round of the tournament will begin at the home site of the high seed on Thursday, Feb. 26. From there, the 3A North quarterfinals will be played at Montevideo High School on Saturday.

“I feel like the teams that are going to be in the play-in game are all teams that we’ve competed really well with this season, so we’re really looking at finding a way to come out of that one and be on top,” DeBlieck said. “We’ve got six days of practice in a row, so we’re going to be dialed in and ready for whatever we get.”