The Lady Panther volleyball team geared up for what they hope will be a deep post-season run, whipping Lone Peak on Senior Night and then taking third in the tough Blocktober Classic volleyball tournament in Butte over the weekend.
The Lone Peak match was a quick, crowd-pleasing contest. The Panthers took the first set, 25-10, and the second, 25-8. Arena Faler has shown she is one of the best hitters in our district, and in this match she dominated the floor.
The Panther subs took over for most of the third and got in some valuable time. Lone Peak led the set a few times, at 4-3, 5-4 and 10-6. But then the Panthers took over: Cameron Toney put Jefferson up 17-15 and they went on to win 25-22 on a kill by Ryian Eveland.
The next day, it was off to Butte. Jefferson had won the Blocktober tournament the last two years, even though it’s dominated by Class A schools.
This time, the Panthers bested Hamiliton in the first match, 25-17, 25-20. Next up was a tough Hardin squad. The Panthers lost the first 11-25, then played better in the second set but lost 15-25.
That put Jefferson in a loser-out match against Whitefish. It was a tight contest, but the Panthers pulled out the win, 27-25, to advance to the consolation final against Polson. Polson had started the day with a loss to Hardin, then defeated Hamilton and Frenchtown to get to Jefferson.
The Panthers took a quick 12-4 lead, and Hailey Henschel put over a kill to make it 16-9. Toney slammed over a kill to make it 24-15 and the Panthers took the win 25-16. Jefferson started the second on fire, with Faler blasting over kills that looked like they might explode the ball as the team built up a 20-10 lead. MacKenzie Layng put over a sneak that made it 22-15, and the Panthers went on to win, 25-16, for third place.
This week the volleyball girls were set to take on Whitehall on Monday, Three Forks on Thursday and Manhattan on Saturday. The District tournament is October 26-27 in Manhattan.
Cross Country
The Panther cross country teams competed at Old Baldy golf course in Townsend on Oct. 14, with this weekend’s State meet in their sights.
The boys varsity ran a strong race, with four finishers among the top 10. Dominic Hurlbert took 2nd with a time of 16:34. Luke Mest was 5th in 17:05, Logan Hornung 6th in 17:23, McKenon Boyd 8th in 17:34, Dylan Mikesell 20th in 18:24, Christian Gillmore 23rd in 18:33, and Caelum Dunn 29th in 19:41.
For the JV boys, Gavin Phillips placed 7th, 20:12; Bridger Marks 9th, 20:39; Adam Sherlock 10th, 20:49; Matthew Zelenka, 20:53; Pierce Ward 13th, 21:39, Lane Phillips 15th, 22:14, and Steele Hansing 17th, 22:19.
Hudsyn Allen 3rd 25:15, Addie Holman 4th 26:19,
In the girls’ varsity race, Peyton Stearns was 4th in 20:49, Isabella Warren 6th in 20:48, Lily Oelkers 15th in 22:48, Rebekah Warren 16th in 22:53, Natalie Russ 19th in 23:06, Meridith Rieder 28th in 23:57, and Michaela Morris 29th in 24:21. Hudson Allen finished 3rd in the JV race in 26:15, while Addie Holman was 4th in 26:19.
Football
The Panther football team took on a very good Manhattan team that had only lost once this year. The Panthers scored first when Parker Wagner returned an interception for a touchdown; the PAT by Kolbe Michaud was good, and it was 7-0 with 11:47 left in the second quarter.
Manhattan took an 8-7 lead with 3:10 left in the half on a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Jefferson came back with a 36-yard field goal by Hunter Stevens to make it 10-8. But that would prove its last score as Manhattan went on to win, 24-10.
The Panthers close their regular season this Friday when they travel to Townsend. It’s an important game: A win puts them into the playoffs. Game time is 7 p.m.; a big turnout of Panther fans would really help.
