Thursday was the beginning of 4-B District Tournament action for the Panthers. Tournament time tends to bring out much anxiety as it is win or go home. The Panthers embrace the challenge as they put what they have learned from their 18 practice exams, the regular season, to good use. This year’s squad has spent most of the season recovering from injury which has given many players an opportunity to grow which was very evident on opening night. The game started with the usual nerves for both teams but didn’t last long. Joliet jumped out to an early 6-0 lead by crashing the offensive glass behind the efforts of Caleb Bailey and Zayne Songstad. The Panthers have been behind once or twice this season so it didn’t rattle them. Kaide settled the Panthers down with a nice driving layup through traffic. With the lid lifted off of the rim the seniors stepped up and finished the quarter strong as Makale, Tanner, Dylan, and Colton all hit shots during the quarter. The Panthers withstood some second quarter strife as two starters, Kaide and Dylan, got into a bit of foul trouble but the Panther bench was equal to the task. Brigem, Michael, AJ, and Jace played with great energy and poise. AJ and Jace scored 9 of the Panthers second quarter points to give the Panthers a 30-22 lead at the half. Joliet came out of the locker room determined to pound it inside and use their twin towers to their advantage. More than once they cut it to a single basket but it was our leaders that made plays. Ryder had a layup at the end of the third quarter and one early in the fourth that seemed to break the back of the Jayhawks. Tanner found him on a couple of great cuts and he finished at the rim much to the delight of the crowd. The Panthers really got rolling in the fourth quarter. Kaide and AJ found their stroke from the outside scoring 16 of the Panthers 26 for the quarter. Tanner and Jace never missed a free throw and the Jayhawks didn’t get many second chance points as the Panthers won, 69-52.
Scoring was as follows: Brigem Dahl 2, MaKale Kembel 3, Colton Kinn 3, Ryder Klein 5, Dylan Sanner 6, AJ Gray 9, Jace Lemmel 11, Kaide Griffith 14, and Tanner Rae 16.
Friday’s opponent, the Huntley Project Red Devils, were a very tough match for the Panthers because of their size and skill. They concluded the regular season ranked as the number one team in class B. The Panthers were very confident in their ability to compete with the Red Devils as they did a great job in both regular season games. In the first half the Panthers got out of the gate quickly as the birthday boy, Kaide, hit a couple of jumpers to get the Panthers rolling. The first half was back and forth with 5 lead changes as both teams played great defense and scored some tough baskets. The Red Devils ran a little pressure at the Panthers but it was to no avail as Colton was the recipient of a couple of buckets at the rim. Jace, Michael, AJ, and Brigem brought some great energy off of the bench as the Panthers scrapped with the Red Devils to trail 25-20 at halftime. The Panthers got out of the gate well in the third behind Tanners shooting but couldn’t maintain their effort on the offensive end. The Red Devils shot 70% in the second half and defeated the Panthers, 62-41.
Scoring was as follows: Braedan Bilden 1, Makale Kembel 2, Michael McHenry 3, Jace Lemmel 4, Colton Kinn 4, Dylan Sanner 7, Kaide Griffith 8, and Tanner Rae 12.
Saturday morning loser out action saw the Panthers challenge the Mustangs at 11:00 in the morning. Uncharacteristically, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead as the Mustangs missed some early shots and the Panthers rebounded and ran. Makale and Michael were the recipients of some great passing by Tanner as they ran the floor and scored. Kaide and Dylan chipped in with a basket each but the Mustangs didn’t go away they began to hit from beyond the arc and stayed hot through three quarters. Shepherd made 9 three pointers in the game. Shepherd went on a 16-0 run from the middle of the first quarter to the 3:00 mark of the second quarter before AJ knocked down a three pointer of his own to get the Panthers back on track. Tanner chipped in with a three and Jace splashed a couple of free throws to close the quarter strong. The Panthers trailed 24-23. During the second quarter the refs lost control of the game and it got a bit chippy which lasted into the second half. The Panthers started the third quarter missing 5 straight free throws much to their dismay. Michael hit a tough layup in traffic and was fouled. He made his free throw which broke the seal for the Panthers. Kaide and Dylan added a couple of buckets as the Panthers led 34-33 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth the Panthers slowly pulled away as MaKale scored 8 of his game high 14 in the quarter which propelled the Panthers to victory, 50-43.
Scoring was as follows: Ryder Klein 1, AJ Gray 5, Michael McHenry 5, Kaide Griffith 5, Dylan Sanner 6, Tanner Rae 6, and MaKale Kembel 14.
In the consolation game the Panthers played the Columbus Cougars for the right to go to Divisional. The Panthers started strong led by seniors Tanner, Ryder, and MaKale. Defensively, the Panthers didn’t allow the Cougars to crash the offensive glass largely in part to the shortest Panther on the team Ryder Klein. Ryder had a tremendous game for the Panthers from the point forward position. Ryder’s stat line for the game- 4 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and no turnovers. The Panthers led 16-6 after the first quarter. In the second quarter Columbus doubled their effort on the offensive glass and battled their way back to a tie game at halftime. The third quarter was good and bad as the Panthers played their way to an 8-point lead as Dylan scored all 7 of his points in the quarter. The down side to the quarter was Tanner and Dylan got into a little foul trouble and had to sit. The Panthers had a double-digit lead that went to single digits while Tanner sat with his fourth foul late in the quarter and the Cougars capitalized. Columbus went on a 19-2 run in the third and fourth quarter that gave them a 6-point lead at the midway point of the fourth quarter and then Dylan was lost to fouls. Colton came off of the bench and gave a great spark for his team by blocking a couple of shots, snagging a couple of rebounds, and hitting two huge shots for us. On consecutive trips Colton buried a three-point shot and MaKale followed suit and the Panther faithful were really making some noise as the Panthers tied the game. In the last minute it was back and forth as both teams scored tough buckets. With the Panthers trailing by 1 Colton had a great look at a three that was almost all the way down and it came out. Columbus rebounded and we fouled with 6.5 seconds. Columbus made the first and missed the second. Tanner rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor. He pulled up just past half court and turned it loose. The shot hit the front of the rim and bounced over the backboard which ended the season for the Panthers 53-51.
Scoring was as follows: Ryder Klein 4, Kaide Griffith 6, Colton Kinn 7, Dylan Sanner 7, MaKale Kembel 9, and Tanner Rae 18.
Once again the Panthers had a great following at the District Tournament and we would like to thank everyone that came and supported us!!
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