TMB built a 15-point lead at halftime following efficient shooting to end the first, and while Canby continued to show a tenacious defensive effort through the second, the Panthers had the offensive answers to preserve their lead the rest of the way.

“The approach was to play the full 36 minutes. We haven’t been doing that, and that’s why we were losing,” Lanoue said. “I think there were times through that second half that we didn’t do that, but we stuck through and we kept our heads up. That’s something that I’m proud of the team for.”

Canby also took time to honor Casey Hoiland and Karter Potz as the team’s senior duo for senior night.

“It [senior year] came a lot quicker than I thought,” Hoiland said. “I was a freshman watching the older guys play, and then it just came out of nowhere.”

Canby senior Casey Hoiland begins to drive toward the basket in the first half against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton Friday night.

“[I feel] exactly the same,” Potz echoed. “Seems like last year I was just a freshman.”

For TMB, Lanoue also finished with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Sy Sanders logged a double-double of 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, while Griffin Zick followed with 12 points and led TMB with six assists and four steals. Aiden Sanow also added another 13 points and seven boards.

Hunter Kack led Canby with 16 points behind a trio of 3s, and Jace Rangaard followed with 10 points. Owen Peterson had a team-high nine rebounds to his 9 points as well.

TMB finished the night shooting 41% from the field and held Canby to 29%.

Canby and TMB got off to a competitive start throughout the first half, and the Panthers weren’t able to break away to a double-digit lead until late in the half.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Jackson Kruse (left) and Canby's Jace Rangaard (right) both run for a loose ball in the first half Friday night.

Kack got a steal and fed it up to Peterson for a fastbreak layup to start the night’s scoring, just as Emery Xiong responded with a 3-pointer from the top of the key to get the Panthers’ scoring started.

Kack also drilled in a 3 himself to tie the early game up 5-5, as he did soon after with another trey to cut into a 9-8 Lancers’ deficit.

Lanoue had the hot hand from deep and hit his first of the night, followed up with an Eli Lightfoot offensive rebound and putback to build a 14-8 edge for TMB.

Both teams had struggling moments with turnovers particularly throughout the opening half, and Canby also eventually applied a full-court press that did force a few turnovers on the Panthers.

Canby put together a 7-0 run when trailing 17-8 to pull back within a possession following a 3-pointer and layup from Kack and a pair of free throws from Will Abrahamson, sparking some momentum back. A steal and layup from Abrahamson off the Lancers’ press then tied the score up shortly after 19-19.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Griffin Zick drives the baseline in the first half against Canby Friday night.

Yet, TMB got its rhythm going again to end the half strong.

“On offense, I think we got a little bit too greedy. I think we needed to run our offense a little bit longer,” Lanoue said. “They [Canby] did a good job of pressuring in the second half I thought. But, I think we just kept our heads down and kept running, no matter the score. We kept playing.”

Sanow made a midrange jumper as Lanoue followed that up with a 3 to start the run.

Zick also began to heat up alongside Lanoue, as the Panthers’ backcourt duo, and had a trio of layups while Lanoue nailed two more 3-pointers to help put TMB ahead 42-27 at the break.

“It just feels so good as a player, and as a teammate for the other guy [when baskets go in],” Lanoue said of TMB’s contagious shooting in the first. “We haven’t been shooting well, so it’s something that just feels good as a team.”

Lightfoot also continued to be a strong presence in the paint throughout the night on the defensive end.

“I thought we did well in the second half in helping out on the pick and roll, which is what they wanted to do. I think we struggled in the first half, but second half, we did a little bit better,” Lanoue said. “That’s something that we need to still do better … When we get back in practice, we’ll work on that.”

The Lancers continued to show fight and aggressiveness on the defensive end, and kept fighting to get good looks on the offensive end in the second half.

But, the Panthers ultimately carried their momentum through and didn’t lose sight of their lead the rest of the night.

“It [our defense] was good at first, but then we started slowing down a little bit,” Hoiland said. “The second half, we really picked it up though. In the first half, we weren’t getting back on defense quick enough on transition, but we got back. We got better in the second half.”

The Lancers and Panthers are each looking to make a final push to end the regular season, both having just five combined games left prior to section play beginning.

Canby has been building up some momentum as of late with two games left following Friday. Coming into Friday, the Lancers had won three of their last four games with defeats over Red Rock Central, Yellow Medicine East and Minneota.

Of TMB’s six straight losses heading into Friday, three of them had been against teams with 14 or more wins on the season in No. 5 Hills-Beaver Creek, Murray County Central and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.

Canby (5-16) now has two games remaining in the regular season, both of which will be at home. The Lancers will host Lakeview (8-14) on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., and MACCRAY (7-17) the following Monday on Feb. 23 at 7:15 p.m.

Hoiland noted that Canby’s will approach the final stretch with an “all or nothing,” mindset.

TMB (9-14) has three games left, and will next host Adrian-Ellsworth (3-18) on Monday at 7:30 p.m., and Yellow Medicine East (3-18) on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. The Panthers will then close the regular season at Springfield (17-5) next Friday.

“We need to win these next three games,” Lanoue said. “The next two, we have to win. We got some opponents that I think we can beat, and Friday is a tough one, but I think we just got to keep playing our game. Hopefully we can end the week strong, then get back to work the next week for the playoffs coming up in two weeks.”

Following the regular season, both Canby and TMB will then await Section 3A seeding with the tournament’s play-in round to begin Feb. 26. The subsection quarterfinals are slated to start on Feb. 28.