It was the Pocahontas Area Indians that charged into the Panther Pit to sweep both Panthers’ teams. The PAC Girls won 66-25 and the Boys won by an identical margin of 68-29.
To start with the girls, the Indians came into the matchup ranked 11th and really put that on display early on, causing several turnovers (nine after the first quarter). The defense led to easy offense for Pocahontas, as they were on top 21-6 at the end of one. The second quarter was a bit more competitive with St. Mary’s handling the full-court pressure better, only allowing 12 points. The halftime score was 33-13.
The third quarter is where the Indians really pulled away, outscoring the Panthers 22-11 to hold a 55-22 lead after three. Pocahontas would go on to score another 11 for a total of 66 points, holding St. Mary’s to 25.
Carly Jansen led the way for the Indians, with a game high of 20 points, followed by Akaysa Duitscher’s nine. On Storm Lake St. Mary’s side, it was Sydney Hurd’s eight to power through. There were nice contributions by Bianca Limones (7) and Neely Bacon (5).
Pocahontas Area Girls now improve to 12-3 overall (7-2 Twin Lakes Conference). Storm Lake St. Mary’s is 2-10 overall (2-7 TLC).
Next games for both teams. Storm Lake St. Mary’s will host Ar-We-Va on Saturday at 1pm. As for Pocahontas Area, they are off until Tuesday, where they will go on the road to battle East Sac County. The broadcast will be on Mix 101.7 KAYL and video streamed here at stormlakeradio.com.
The Boys game was a similar start with Pocahontas Area racing out to a 16-2 advantage out the gates. After the first quarter, the score was 21-4 in favor of the Indians. The second quarter belonged to Pocahontas as they went on to tally on another 25, including a buzzer-beating three by Chase Flaherty to lead 46-16 at the break.
The Panthers did a nice job defensively in the second half to hold the Indians to only 22 points total. However, the big stories were three Panther players fouling out, including John Heitman, Aidan Cavazos, and Bennett Smith (who was assessed a technical for his fifth personal).
Despite the foul trouble, Smith was the leader in all scores with 17 points. Lane Carlson had five, Heitman (3) and Dylan Martin with two. For Pocahontas, it was Chase Flaherty who racked up 11. His brother Jackson, finished with six, Gabe Ehn had 10, Collin Dreith (9), Ethan Behrens, Christian Valenzuela, and Blake Roberts all individually had eight.
Pocahontas Area Boys improve to 2-13 overall (2-7 TLC), while Storm Lake St. Mary’s falls to 0-13 overall (0-9 TLC).
Next games up for both teams. St. Mary’s will be back at the Panther Pit to host Ar-We-Va on Saturday at 3pm, while Pocahontas Area will be in East Sac County on Tuesday evening. Broadcast will be available on Mix 101.7 KAYL and live-streamed on our website as well!
