Pottersville, NY - The Panthers returned to action on Thursday evening as the basketball teams headed to Pottersville, NY to play the Word of Life Huskies.
The women tipped off first at 5 pm in only the second game for new head coach J'Neill Sharpe. Emma Russell (Brushton, NY) had an and-one to score the first points of the game and the Panthers just kept rolling from there. Russell would go on to finish the first half with 14 points while freshman Samantha Howland (Whitehall, NY) put up 9 points of her own. The Panthers defense held the Huskies to only 15 first half points recording 6 steals and 4 blocks.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Huskies managed to hold the Panthers to just 7 points in the third quarter while putting up 12 of their own. However when the fourth quarter began, the Panthers quickly found their groove again. Shooting 50% from the field in the 4th, the Panthers would go on to secure the victory by a score of 62-37. Russell finished with 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists while Howland had a career high 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds and 6 steals. Adriana Yuret (Mayfield, NY) scored 11 points while Becky Hershbain (Irvine, CA) came off the bench with 5 points and 4 rebounds.
Shortly after the women's game concluded, the men tipped off their game. This game was much more back and forth compared to the previous game as neither team could secure a lead larger than 6 points until the final minutes of the game. That being said, the first half was led by Jalon Munoz (Helotes, TX) and Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY) who finished with 11 points and 10 points, respectively. Michael Leak also provided a spark off the bench recording 7 points and 4 assists. The Panthers shot a collective 50% from the field while forcing 7 turnovers to have a halftime lead of 40-35.
The second half was much more of the same as the Panthers saw their lead erased early. Munoz kept his hot hand scoring 9 more points while Clarence Claiborne, Jr. (Petersburg, VA) and Leak both scored 7 second half points to help the Panthers retake the lead. The Panthers stole the ball 7 times throughout the game while Richards added 4 blocks to secure the win 72-63. Munoz and Leak were the team's top scorers with 20 and 14, respectively, while Richards finished with 12 points, 10 boards, and 4 blocks. In his first game back from a concussion, freshman Brooklyn Davis (Houston, TX) put up 7 points on a perfect 3-3 from the field, including a clutch 3-pointer towards the end of the game.
The Thanksgiving break seems to have done good for both teams as both teams pick up a W. The Panthers will travel to NHTI on Saturday afternoon for their next game with tip off times of 1 and 3 pm.
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Written by Angelo Oddo.
