Panther basketball fans who were anxious to get back into the bleachers after the holiday break found themselves watching some exciting games this past week. Thursday’s boys’ game with the White Sulphur Springs Hornets had fans cheering loudly as Nolan Sonsteng put on a three-point clinic. Swishing seven long balls in the first half, he added one more in the second half to tie a school record held by Brian Bullock since around 2010 for threes in a single game.
The girls’ game added some excitement as well, featuring a third quarter that moved the Panthers from a four point deficit to a five point advantage, allowing them to stay in control until late in the game. Although the lead slipped away in the final 30 seconds, the Lady Panthers learned they could make a comeback and learned some valuable lessons about finishing off a game.
BOYS STING THE HORNETS Sonsteng wasted no time starting his scoring assault, opening the Panther scoring with a three. Noah Fader followed with a three of his own, setting the pace for the Panthers. After the Hornets added a trey of their own, Britton Peterson connected on a two and Sonsteng buried two more threes to give the Panthers a 14-3 lead. Following a two by Josh Eckmann, the quarter closed with the JHS boys on top 18-9. Eckmann opened the second quarter with a three, and Sonsteng followed with another. Lincoln Leary hit a two and Eckmann bookended the quarter with another three, and the Panthers led 29-11 midway through the second quarter.
The threes kept coming as the Hornet zone defense left open the long-range bombs. An assist by Leary to Eckmann made it 31-13, Sonsteng hit his fifth three of the game, and Eckmann added a two, putting the Panthers up 36-13. Following two points by the Hornets, the Panthers closed the half with a 10-0 run. Sonsteng hit his sixth three, Bryce Harrington and Hayden Giusti hit buckets and Sonsteng sank his seventh three at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 46-15 lead. The third saw the Panthers subbing freely. With the defense clamping down for the Panthers, they increased their lead to 58-17 on a basket by Payton Loveridge.
With four subs joining Sonsteng on the floor, the Panthers continued to spread their lead. Jaxson Yanzick hit back to back three pointers and Sonsteng hit his eighth of the night. Loveridge finished it off with a pair of free throws to give the Panthers a 69-24 win. Sonsteng led the Panthers with 24 points, all on threes and more than twice as many points in the game as his total for the season before the game. Eckmann collected 16 points, Fader 9, Yanzick 6, Loveridge 4, Peterson 4, and Leary, Guisti and Harrington 2 each.
LADY PANTHERS PLAY HORNETS CLOSE Hailey Rogne opened the scoring for the Panthers, the Hornets answered with four points, and Paige Yanzick tied the game at 4-4. Leah Vossler put the Panthers out front 6-4 and the teams ended the quarter in a tie as T Vossler made it 8-8.The second quarter belonged to the Hornets as they put down the first seven points. Ellie Evertz was the only Panther able to score in the quarter and the Hornets held a 17-13 lead at the half. As she had in the first half, Rogne opened the Panther scoring after the break, this time with a three. Buckets by Leah Vossler, Yanzick and another by Leah Vossler moved the Panthers to a 19-17 lead. After one bucket by the Hornets, the Panthers closed it out with a bucket by Rogne, a steal and bucket by Leah Vossler, and an old fashioned three by Rogne.
Heading into the final eight minutes the Panthers were on top 26-21. The Hornets collected four points before Evertz added two points, but the Hornets tied the game at 28. Leah Vossler made the score 30-28, Panthers, but at the two minute mark the teams were knotted at 32. A three by Rogne put the Panthers up 35-32 and the JHS girls had two chances to increase the lead, but they missed both times on one and ones. An old fashioned three by the Hornets tied it at 35 with 31 seconds left. On an inbounds play, the Panthers lost track of the back court and were outfoxed by the Hornets, who put up a winning bucket to take the game 37-35. Leah Vossler led the Panthers with 12 points, Rogne tallied 11, and Yanzick, Evertz and T Vossler each had 4. The Hornets were led by Mesa Williams who had 26 of the Hornet 37 points.
PANTHERS TRAVEL TO BIG TIMBER The excitement that filled the JHS gym for the games with the Hornets came to a grinding halt for a bit Saturday when the Panthers traveled to Big Timber. The games started an hour late as the referees had a different starting time than did the schools, so everyone had an extra hour to enjoy sitting on the bleachers. The boys played first and found the going tough right from the start. The Herders scored the first four points before Britton Peterson hit a three at the 6:35 point. The next five points went to the Herders for a 9-3 lead. Nolan Sonsteng hit one of two free throws, but then the next six points went to the Herders. Noah Fader stopped the run with a pair of free throws but soon after had to sit the bench with three fouls. The Panthers just could not get the ball through the hoop.
Josh Eckmann stole the ball, dribbled down the floor and went up with a dunk that gave the Panther fans a bit to cheer about but that was about it as the Herders took a 19-8 lead at the end of one. Free throws would prove to be the norm in this game. The first minute saw six attempts, four by the Herders and two by the Panthers. Bryce Harrington hit a two for the first regular Panther bucket of the game with 6:45 left in the second quarter. About twenty seconds later, Sonsteng followed with a three to pull the Panthers within seven, 21-14, but the next minute saw the Herders hit four free throws and a two to increase their lead to thirteen, 27-14.
For a time the Panthers appeared headed back into the contest. A three by Eckmann, a nice block by Guisti, a free throw by Peterson and a two plus a three by Eckmann pulled the Panthers within seven, 30-23, at the half. Returning from the break, the Panthers narrowed the gap to three, 30-27, on buckets by Eckmann and Fader. That is when the Herders took over and moved out to a 36-28 advantage. The quarter ended with fourteen free throw attempts, and the Herders held a 38-33 lead going into the final eight minutes.
Peterson sank a basket to get the Panthers back within three, and a three-pointer by Eckmann kept it close, but then Big Timber guard Kell Schwers took the game in hand, hitting 18 of his total 24 points in the fourth. The game was still within range at the 5:13 mark with the Panthers trailing 48-39, but in that five-minute span the Herders outscored the Panthers 15 to 8 to win 63-47. With all subs on both sides for the final two minutes, the Herders delighted their home- town fans with a conference win. A total of 54 free throw attempts, 27 by each side, marked the rough and tumble game. Eckmann led the Panther offense with 14 points and Peterson joined him in double digits at 10. Other Panther points came from Fader with 8, Sonsteng 7, Leary 4, Har- rington 3 and Guisti 1.
GIRLS FACE THE HERDERS The JHS girls brought back the excitement in a close game with the Herders, but it did not start out that way. The Panthers struggled to find the range in the first quarter with Leah Vossler and Hailey Rogne each hitting two points. The Herders were not much better but held a 9-4 lead after one. The Panthers were doing the right things, passing the ball around and setting up plays, but the ball was just not going through the hoop. Ellie Evertz scored with 3:56 left, Ashley Pankratz was fed by Hanna Grimsrud for two and T Vossler hit to end the half with the Herders leading 19-10. The second half belonged to the Panther girls, outscoring the Herders 21-15, but they just could not quite get over the hump. The Panthers worked the ball around and started to make things work. Yanzick hit a pair of baskets with one of them just shy of the three point line. Evertz scored, T Vossler hit a two and Grimsrud a free throw to close the gap to eight, 27-19, at the end of three. T
he best quarter by the Panthers was the fourth. They went on a run with Rogne, Evertz and Yanzick hitting two pointers. Grims- rud swished a three that trimmed the Herder lead to a single point, 29-28, and Evertz maintained that margin with another bucket. At that point, with under two minutes of play left, the Herders went into a control game, and free throws played a key role. The Herders hit a free throw to move out to a two-point lead, and Evertz answered with a free throw of her own to set the score at 32-31, Herders, with eleven ticks left. A Herder bucket in the final seconds sealed the final score at 34-31 for a Herder win. It was a great comeback for the Panthers who certainly could have had the win with a little bit of luck. Ellie Evertz led the Panthers with 9, followed by Paige Yanzick with 6, Hailey Rogne, Hanna Grimsrud and T Vossler 4 each, and Leah Vossler and Ashley Pankratz 2 apiece.
BUSY WEEK IN PROGRESS This is a busy week at Jefferson High. On Monday the C teams traveled to Belgrade, and Tuesday Whitehall was at JHS for the makeup games that were postponed. Wednesday is a play in the south gym. Thursday JHS has a big wrestling mixer with Anaconda, Deer Lodge, Townsend and Whitehall attending. There will be two mats going and more than 60 matches. Friday the basketball teams travel to Deer Lodge and Saturday the teams host Townsend. The wrestlers will be at the Choteau tournament Friday and Saturday.
