South Portland, ME - Men's basketball season ends up in Maine during the YSCC Quarterfinals in their match up against Southern Maine Community College.
Locked up as the #7 seed in this year's conference tournament, men's basketball was taking on conference foe Southern Maine in the first round. In a previous match up earlier in the season, the Panthers only lost by 8, making this game another classic for the two schools. As the underdogs, the Panthers were looking to head up to Maine and play spoiler to the #2 ranked Seawolves.
The Seawolves opened up the game with the lead, while the Panthers refused to back down. Knowing what was on the line, a big focus for the Panthers to be in this game was strong defensive play. Although their shooting was not great in the first half, 4 steals along with forcing 2 more turnovers and contested shots help the Panthers only see a twelve point deficit going into halftime.
Brett Richards (Kinderhook, NY) led the way for the Panthers grabbing six rebounds as well as scoring eight points. Jalon Muñoz (Helotes, TX) was right behind him with five points himself. On the defensive end
Myles Washington (Washington, D.C.) picked up 2 steals to control the Panthers defensive play.
Coming into the second half, two plans were made, frustrate the Seawolves, and come back in the game. Although the Panthers did not end up making the comeback, they did in fact frustrate the Seawolves. They held Southern Maine to just seven made shots on twenty nine attempts with zero made threes. The Panthers also secured five teams steals on top of three other forced turnovers. Richards saw himself also get the block game going picking up three in the second half. The Seawolves defense was just as strong as the Panthers only saw eight shots go in themselves.
Logan Yohe (Delmar, NY) led the way with eight points in the second half. Muñoz picked up 5 rebounds, while Richards got 6 more points, and 7 rebounds to secure his double double. The Panthers would fall to the Seawolves 52-40 as the final horn sounded.
Other Panther Statlines:
Alex Carrillo (Akron, OH) - 6 points, 6 rebounds
Clarence Claiborne Jr. (Petersbrug, VA) - 5 points, 2 steals, 2 assists, 2 rebounds
Myles Washington - 2 steals, 2 assists, 3 rebounds
Nate Lynes (Miami, FL) - 2 steals
This game marks the end of a pretty successful season for the Panthers. A season that saw ups and downs, but as the motto has been all year "we're a young team" so the future is bright for these young Panthers. They will start their offseason and return to the court in the Fall.
How to follow the Panthers: For the latest information on ACPHS athletics, visit acphspanthers.com or check out the ACPHS athletics social media platforms on Instagram @ACPHSPanthers or Twitter @ACPHSAthletics.
