Roundup Panthers

Friday the Joliet Jayhawks came to town for a 4B district showdown for second place in the conference. Joliet provides lots of problems for teams in the district as they have great size in the post, very solid guard play, and always play with a great level of intensity. Still a bit short handed the Panthers gave a valiant effort on both ends of the floor. The Panthers were fired up and ready to play as was evident watching them on the defensive end. The Panthers had great focus, they were communicating well, and their shifts and rotations were executed extremely well and with great effort. The Panthers play a lot of zone and it is difficult to rebound out of the zone if players aren’t focused and concentrating on their keys defensively. Kylen (10) and AJ (8) were the leaders in that department for the evening. Even with some foul trouble, Kylen and Braedan, the Panthers maintained their intensity on defense. Offensively, the Panthers had a balanced attack as Morgan, AJ, Kylen, and Jordan all scored in the first quarter. Jordan finished the quarter in style by making a ¾ court shot at the buzzer for a deep three. In the second quarter AJ, Jordan, Braedan, and Kylen all scored but some untimely turnovers kept the Panthers from extending their lead. The Panthers led 26-17 at the half. In the second half the Panthers weren’t able to capitalize on the scoring opportunities especially around the rim. The Jayhawks slowly crept back into the game and it was back and forth throughout the second half. The Panthers ultimately were undone by their free throw shooting as they were 4 for 9 in the second half while Joliet was 7 for 13. Joliet outscored the Panthers by three points from the free throw line and won 40-37.

Scoring was as follows: AJ Gray 10, Jordan Olson 10, Kylen Wolff 7, Morgan Sanner 6, and Braedan Bilden 4.

After suffering a tough loss coaches always wonder how their team will respond. In Roundup we have always been extremely fortunate as our kids seem to get after it when things haven’t gone their way. Saturday was no different as the Panthers traveled to Forsyth to take on the Dogies. It was a great start as all five Panther starters scored in the quarter from a variety of areas- free throws, three pointers, and easy two’s around the basket. After giving up two 3-point makes to Forsyth in the first minute the defense responded with a shut out for the rest of quarter and 23-6 lead. Forsyth outscored the Panthers in the second quarter 12-9 and cut the halftime lead to 32-18. Forsyth kept rolling in the

Roundup Panthers

Written by Rick Griffith

third quarter scoring 8 early points and putting some heat on the Panthers. The Panthers were a bit tired and sluggish to start the third but slowly turned it around and clamped down on the defensive end. Different than any other game the Panthers did a great job of getting to the basket, feeding our posts, and shot 25/43 from the free throw line which was deciding factor in the game. The Panthers won 61-39.

Scoring was as follows: Kylen Wolff 15, Jordan Olson 11, AJ Gray 10, Braedan Bilden 10, Morgan Sanner 5, Dustin Gairrett 4, Jared Freitas 4, and Adam Mozqueda 2.