Whew.
When Jefferson High meets Whitehall High in basketball, it’s almost always must-watch action. This year, the Trojan boys came into Friday’s matchup winless in conference play—but they also brought the district’s leading scorer, Brendan Wagner.
Fireworks ensued. The Panthers prevailed, 77-75, but my heart is still racing.
This game was a thriller from start to finish. Wade Rykal paced Jefferson early, scoring 6 of the Panthers’ 13 first-quarter points. In the second, it was Zach Zody accounting for 9 of Jefferson’s 17 points. At the half, it was 30-29, Panthers.
Tyler Harrington took over in the third, and his 9 points gave the Panthers a 46-40 lead heading into the final eight minutes. But the Wagner cousins came out on fire for Whitehall in the fourth: Brendan put in 13 points, Parker added 5, and Lane 7—and as the buzzer sounded, the teams were tied at 67.
Overtime looked bleak for the Panthers, who trailed by 7 with just two minutes to play. But Harrington was not about to let this one slip away: He scored 8 of the Panthers’ 10 points, the last on a pair of free throws to secure the win. His 34 points led all scorers; Zody added 12 and Trent McMaster 11. Brendan Wagner was high for Whitehall with 27.
The girls had no such drama, continuing a season of dominant play. Dakota Edmisten and Rachel Van Blaricom paced the Panthers early on with 5 points each, Austie May added a basket, and Jefferson held a 12-8 lead after one quarter.
Six Panthers scored in the second: They share the ball very well, and all these girls can shoot. MacKenzie Layng hit a 3-pointer and followed with 2 points, Van Blaricom added 6, and it was 32-10 at the half. Edmisten turned it on in the third with three 3-pointers for a 50-21 lead. Every Panther played in the final period, and Jefferson ran away with the 68-30 win. Edmisten led the scoring with 24 points, while Van Blaricom had 17 and Layng 10.
A night earlier, the Panthers swept Manhattan. In the boys game, Rykal’s steal and score started a run: McMaster hit a pair of 2-pointers and came up with a block, and a 3-pointer by Jake Genger made it 11-3. Tom Meyer knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and added free throws, and at the end of one, the Panthers were up 21-8.
Zody’s 3-pointer gave the Panthers a 26-13 lead, and Harrington added another to fuel a 35-21 halftime margin. The Panthers came out in the third with the same intensity: Harrington fed Rykal who put it up and in, McMaster hit a 3-pointer, and with more 3-pointers by Harrington and Luke Eckmann, it was 63-39 going into the final eight minutes.
Manhattan put up the first 5 points of the fourth quarter, but the Panthers kept their cool, and the subs came in to mop up the 77-54 win. McMaster led this one with 17 points; Harrington added 13, Meyer 12, and Zody 10.
The Lady Panthers opened their game with a 12-0 run: It was May with a pair of free throws and then 5 points more. Edmisten swished a 3-pointer, Layng added another, and Brynna Wolfe scored 5 for a 18-4 Jefferson lead at the end of one.
Van Blaricom took over in the second, fueling a 34-16 halftime margin. And Wolfe led the Panther attack in the third, with 8 of her team’s 16 points for a 51-24 lead. In the fourth, it was mostly subs doing a great job to hold the lead for a 62-37 win. Wolfe’s 18 points led Jefferson; Van Blaricom had 17, and May 11. The Panthers knocked down seven 3-pointers in the game and hit 15 of 20 free throws.
This week, Jefferson travels to Three Forks on Friday and hosts Choteau on Saturday.
