The Panthers hosted their rivals from Northwest last night and did not make them feel welcome as Western cruised to a 23 point victory.  

 

The Panthers got off to a bit of a sluggish start after the long 5 day break and found themselves trailing 3-8 midway through the 1st quarter.  However, the full-court press and high pressure defense from Western was too much for Northwest to handle, and the Panthers went on a 15-0 run to finish the quarter which included a big 3-point basket from Wyatt Bell.

 

The points continued to accumulate for the Panthers in the 2nd quarter as they scored 20 to take a 38-23 lead into halftime.  While the offense cooled off just a bit in the second half, the defense for Western remained tough and the final score for the game was 65-42.

 

Dom Galloway was an absolute beast for the Panthers.  He scored a career high 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds (10 offensive) to go along with 3 blocks, two of which should have come with a warning label.  Bentley Coon added 16 points of his own draining 3 3-pointers while also adding 3 assists.  Logan Young finished 1 rebound short of a double-double as he scored 11 points and had 9 rebounds.  Wyatt Bell (5 points), Chaysten Stephenson (2 points) and Carter O'Connell (1 point) were the other scorers in the game.  Joel Toyer added some valuable minutes off the bench playing strong defense under the rim and grabbing 5 rebounds.  Despite not feeling well, Ethan Harris pushed through and provided valuable leadership and a calming presence during the slow start.  Despite being the smallest kid on the court, Edan Mast outworked everyone else and was able to grab 3 rebounds of his own.

 

Defense and team basketball was the story of not only the run to finish the 1st quarter, but the entire game.  The Panthers had a season high 14 assists on 22 made field goals, led by Lincoln Warner with 4.  The win evens the Panthers record at 4-4 on the season and they will take the long bus ride to Hastings on Wednesday to take on the Saxons.