The 8th grade boys basketball A team traveled to Pennfield for the final game of the season.  Much like several other games for the Panthers this season, this was a nail-biter of a game that went down to the last minute.  

 

The first quarter saw both teams come out of the gates a little slow offensively.  The teams traded a few buckets throughout the quarter and Pennfield held an early 8-9 advantage after the first quarter.  The Panther offense struggled to get into gear into the second quarter as well.  At one point mid-way through the quarter, Pennfield held a 9-point advantage.  Ethan Harris rattled home a 3-pointer at the buzzer to end the half with the Panthers heading to the locker room down 15-20.  

 

As it turns out, the buzzer beater by Harris was the spark the Panthers needed as they came out from the locker room with renewed energy and started the second half on a huge run.  After being held scoreless in the first half, Logan Young grabbed an offensive rebound to begin the third quarter and scored the put back for his first of 8 second half points.  After a steal by Lincoln Warner, Young found a wide open Dom Galloway for a fast-break layup that cut the lead to just 1.  A short time later, Carter O'Connell made a great pass to a wide open Young as Pennfield was late getting back on defense and Young made a layup that gave the Panthers the lead at 21-20.  Young scored two more buckets and then O'Connell stepped in front of a pass for the steal and easy layup that capped off a 15-0 run going back to the end of the first half and all of a sudden the Panthers held a 27-20 lead mid-way through the third quarter.  A late 3-pointer by Pennfield cut the lead to 27-23 going into the fourth quarter.

 

Pennfield scored the first basket of the fourth quarter to make the game 27-25.  Joel Toyer scored on a nice look from Galloway the next trip down the floor though to slow the momentum Pennfield was gaining.  Galloway scored the next 4 points to extend the lead to 33-25.  Throughout the fourth quarter the Panthers had to play 6-on-1 as Pennfield was getting a big boost from one official in particular.  However, they were able to come together as a group and battle through despite Pennfield cutting the lead to 35-32 with just under a minute remaining.  An offensive rebound and put-back by Galloway after a missed free-throw put the game away, and after a couple of free-throws by each team saw the final scored end at 38-33.  Galloway led all scorers with 18 points, while Young had 8.  Ethan Harris and Carter O'Connell each scored 4 and Joel Toyer and Lincoln Warner chipped in with 2 points apiece.  Galloway also led Western with 8 rebounds in the game, 6 of which were on the offensive end.  Warner led the Panthers with 4 assists. 

 

However, it was once again on the defensive end where this game was won.  The Panthers played great team defense.  Galloway, O'Connell and Warner each had 2 steals and Chase Forcier had one himself.  Young and O'Connell were once again tasked with a tough assignment on defense and stepped up in a huge way.  Chaysten Stephenson and Edan Mast gave solid minutes off the bench for the Panthers, while Alex Fausz saw his first action of the year and went out and shut down Pennfield's leading scorer while he was out there.

 

With the win, the Panthers finish their season at 6-5.  More important than any win, this group came together as a team, learning how to trust and support each other which lead to being able to win as many close games as they did this season.