The second to last week of the regular basketball season was wild in “Pantherville.” On Thursday the Panthers took on Class C Ennis, one of the strongest in Class C boys and strong on the girls’ side as well.
The evening opened with the boys’ game, and Josh Eckmann put the Panthers up 2-0 a mere 17 seconds into the game. Ennis answered with a 6-1 run before Noah Fader knocked down a three, Eckmann added a two, and Fader swished another three. At the end of one, the Panthers were out front 11-8. After Ennis tied up the game at 11, Fader hit for two, but the Mustangs hit six straight free throws to go ahead 17-13. Eckmann hit a three to narrow the gap, but Ennis closed the half with a 19-16 lead. Each team scored 14 in the third quarter, with Eckmann and Nolan Sonsteng hitting three pointers. Going into the final eight minutes, the Panthers trailed 33-30.
Six unanswered Mustang points were met with a Bryce Harrington bucket and the Panthers started to get the ball to fall. Fader hit back-to-back threes, Harrington scored, Eckmann stole the ball and scored, and another bucket each from Harrington and Eckmann gave the Panthers a 44-43 lead with 3:41 left on the clock. Free throws were the norm for Ennis throughout the game, and eight of them went in during the fourth quarter for the Mustangs. A three by Lincoln Leary, a pair of free throws by Fader, and a bucket by Eckmann tied the score at 53 apiece with 28 seconds left. Ennis worked the clock and scored with 4 seconds left to take the win 55-53. In the game Ennis hit 20 of 25 free throws, while the Panthers had only five opportunities and sank three of them. Fader led the Panthers with 19 points, followed by Eckmann with 18, Harrington 8, Sonsteng and Leary 3 each, and Hayden Guisti 2.
