–The Storm Lake Saint Mary’s Panther basketball teams split with the Whiting Warriors: with the Panther girls winning 43-40 and the Warrior boys ending a 114-game skid with a 52-25 win
–The girls game saw the Warriors jump to an early 11-2 lead. The Panthers would answer and close out the final 3 minutes to cut the lead to 14-8 after one. The Panthers would open the second quarter on a 6-4 run to cut the lead to 18-14. After a timeout, the Warriors would close the half and lead 22-14 at halftime. The Panthers would roll into the third quarter on a 10-2 run to tie the game at 24, the second tie in the game. The Panthers would lead 29-27 after the third quarter, and would then extend their lead to 37-31. After a Whiting time-out, the Panthers would add to their lead at 42-35 with 1:08 to go. The Warriors would get within 43-40 with 10 seconds to go. After a chaotic 10 seconds, the Panthers would collect the victory.
With the win, the Panthers improved to 1-7 (ending an eight-game losing streak); the loss dropped the Warriors to 1-9. The Panthers were led by Neely Bacon with 17 points, and the Warriors were led by Jaelyn Kooiker with 28 points. Up next the Panthers return home Friday night to play South Central Calhoun and the Warriors travel to Missouri Valley next Saturday (1/13)
–The Boys game saw the Warriors jump to a 7-0 lead. After that the Panthers outscored the Warriors 8-3 to cut the lead to 10-8 after one. The Warriors would swarm the Panthers with a stout defensive effort in the second quarter with an 11-2 run to lead 21-10 after two quarters. In the third quarter, the Warriors would lead by as many as 19 but the Panthers would again surge back with a 7-0 run to trail 36-25 after three. The Panthers would not score in the fourth quarter as the Warriors would score 16 and go on to win 52-25.
With the loss the Panthers fell to 0-8, the win improved the Warriors to 1-9 (ending a 114-point skid {last win was February 2nd, 2018–38-37 win vs Cornerstone Christian}, and scoring 50+ points for the first time in 128 games {last 50+ point game was December 15, 2017–55-46 vs Cedar Bluffs}). The Warriors were led in scoring by Cole Bethune with 18 points and the Panthers were led by Avery Fetrow with 7 points. Up next the Panthers return home Friday night to play South Central Calhoun and the Warriors travel to Missouri Valley next Saturday (1/13)
–Hear comments from Panther Girls Basketball Head Coach Nick Landgraf below:
