The JHS volleyball team finished the regular season last week with a pair of conference wins. Victories over Manhattan there and at home over Big Timber capped an outstanding regular season.
The Panthers were undefeated in conference play and undefeated in all matches that were played on a best three of five sets to 25.
Their only regular season loss came in unconventional play at Choteau, a tournament where teams played two games and then, if necessary, a tiebreaker with the first team to reach seven points named the winner. After easily defeating four teams, including host Choteau, the Panthers played Choteau again in the championship and lost in a tiebreaker. It was not a conference match and not really a traditional regular season loss.
Not only did the Panthers win all of their conference matches, but they won every match in three sets to sweep every other District 5B team. The final standings in 5B are Jefferson 10-0, Three Forks 7-3, Manhattan 6-4, Broadwater 4-6, Sweet Grass County 3-7, Whitehall 0-10.
The district tournament starts on Friday with Manhattan playing Whitehall at 10 a.m., and Sweet Grass County (Big Timber) playing Townsend at 11:30. Three Forks will play the winner of the Manhattan-Whitehall match at 1 p.m., and Jefferson will play the Broadwater-Sweet Grass winner at 2:30. Two loser out matches will be played after the Jefferson match at 4 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. The tournament will continue on Saturday with the top three placers advancing to the Southern B Divisional Volleyball Tournament the week after at Huntley Project. Top three from there advance to the State tourney in Bozeman November 8-10. GO, PANTHERS.
There are all session tickets available at Jefferson High School if you want to get your tickets before the tournament.
Thursday the Panthers traveled to Manhattan and were put to the test in a good match for the Panthers to build their confidence as they head into the post season. The first game saw the Panthers take a 12-3 lead with Simonie Mendenhall, Abby Rosenbaum, Callie Warfle and Mykala Edmisten all powering the Panthers. The lead increased to 15-5 after a pair of kills by Haydin Henschel, and three aces in a row by Abby Rosenbaum made it 21-5. The JHS girls went on to win 25-12.
Manhattan came out in the second game with the flow on their side; the Panthers scored the first point and the Tigers the next seven. Mendenhall helped the Panthers claw their way back into the game with a kill that started a comeback to tie the game at 13 each. After the Tigers took the next four points, Henschel powered down two kills and a block and Warfle added a kill to make it 21-20, Panthers. The two teams were tied at 22 and 23 before the Panthers scored the last two points to take the win 25-23.
The third set was close in the early going with the lead changing sides and staying within a couple of points until an unbelievable dig by Kaela Rosenbaum gave the Panthers a spark. She has been digging out hard-to-believe shots all year, and that one came at just the right time. The Panthers went ahead 19-16 and went on to win 25-22.
Saturday night the Panthers took on Sweet Grass County on senior night. This year’s Panther team has been powered by nine seniors: Ashley Pankratz, Abby Rosenbaum, Kaela Rosenbaum, Hanna French, Emma Stout, Simonie Mendenhall, Callie Warfle, Jessie Molitor, and Sam Allen.
The Panthers started slow with the Herders taking advantage to go up by as many as three a couple of times. Then the teams were tied four times before the Panthers took the lead for good. Kylie Marks put over a kill to give the Panthers a 20-15 lead. A hard kill followed by a tip by Henschel made it 22-15 and the Panthers went on to win 25-19. In the second game the Panthers got their senior emotions out of the way. A great feed by Ashley Pankratz to Mendenhall made it 29-9 and the Panthers rolled to a 25-13 win. The third set saw the Herders score the first three points and they held a 9-8 lead before the Panthers took control. An ace by Warfle, a Henschel tip, another ace by Warfle, a sneak by Abby Rosenbaum and a slam by Henschel put the Panthers up 18-9. Two more aces by Warfle made it 20-9 and the Panthers went on to win 25-14.
CROSS COUNTRY
The JHS Panther “HOOFERS” ended their season by traveling to Missoula to compete in the Montana State cross country meet. It was a beautiful fall day in Montana and a great way to finish the year.
One hundred forty-five girls ran the Class B girls race. The top JHS runner, Grace Alexander set a personal best time of 22:38 and finished 42nd. Becca Nelson took 75th in 24:07, and Laurynn Armstrong set a personal best time of 25:34 for 101st.
One hundred eighty boys ran in the Class B boys race. Hyrum Parke led the Panther boys. He had a personal best time of 19:24 for 67th. Gabe Gilmore finished 91st in 20:15, Christian Davis was 109th in 20:43, Dominick Davis was 130th in 21:42 and Brendan Gallagher set a personal best time of 22:46.
Manhattan continued its dominance of cross country by winning both the boys and girls State Class B titles. All in all it was a good year for the Panthers under first-year head coach Karson Klass and assistant Kathy Snynness. All the runners will be back next year with the exception of senior Gabe Gilmore.
FOOTBALL
The JHS Panther football team ended its season at Townsend Friday night. The team is young and fought through some injuries this year but the future looks good for next year. A couple of breaks during the year would have made a difference in the outcome but probably every team could say that.
To start the game in Townsend, the Panthers kicked off to the Bulldogs. On the first play the JHS defense tackled the Townsend runner for a loss, but the second play saw Townsend put up a pass the went 81 yards for a touchdown. A mere 48 seconds into the game the Panthers were down 7-0.
Jackson Yanzick took the Townsend kickoff, eluded several tacklers, came within one person of breaking it open, and the Cats started on the 35. Unable to get the required yardage, the Panthers had to punt. The Panther defense clamped down and the Bulldogs had to punt with the Panthers starting on the 35. On third and 18 Avery Stiles hit Ian Lindsay for a long gain and gave the Panthers some breathing room to the Bulldog 35. Stiles put the ball on the mark again, this time to Mead Blake who ran in for a touchdown with 6:24 left in the first, tying the game at 7 after a good PAT by Blake.
The Bulldogs added another touchdown in the first to take a 13-7 lead at the end of one. In the second quarter the Panthers had the misfortune of a fumble and Townsend got the ball on the Panther 15. Four plays later the Townsend quarterback ran into the end zone for a touchdown. After a good PAT by the Bulldogs, the Panthers trailed 20-7 with 7:49 left in the half. Townsend elected to go with an on-sides kick and succeeded, getting the ball on the Panther 30. On fourth and two the Bulldogs went for the first down, but the Panther defense came up with a big stop and took over the ball. Jackson Yanzick ran through the Bulldog defense and eluded several tacklers all the way down to the Bulldog 11yard line. The Panthers came away empty handed and the Bulldogs took over on their own four yard line. The Panther defense came up with another stop and on fourth and one the Bulldogs had to punt and the Panthers started on their own 40. Unfortunately the Bulldogs intercepted a Panther pass with 47 seconds left in the half. Townsend was able work its way down and scored with three seconds left to make it 27-7, Bulldogs, at the half.
The Bulldogs would increase their lead to 42-7. A pass to Blake led to a Panther touchdown and a good PAT narrowed the gap to 42-14, Bulldogs, with 9:38 left in the game. The Panthers added another score when the Bulldogs hiked the ball over the quarterback’s head and it went into the end zone with the Panthers falling on the ball for a touchdown. A errant PAT set the score at 42-20, Bulldogs with 51 seconds left. That would prove to be the final score.
Fans are proud of the Panthers, who never gave up.
