Panther guys pounce on Eagles

beating Justice High School last Tuesday and the Gilpin County Eagles on Saturday. They lost a make-up game with Maranatha on Monday, however, sending them to Front Range Christian for their first playoff game.

  Last Tuesday, the Panthers hosted Justice High School and played a repeat game of their meeting at the beginning of the season, coming up from behind to win 72-70. A much needed win as the team vies for seed position in the playoffs.

  Justice led 15-7 at the end of the first period and hung onto the lead into halftime. But the Ned boys gained inches in the third period and then went up by nine points in the fourth period to take the lead and ultimately the win.

  Dominic Massa led the scoring with 22 points; Alex Clavette had 13; Eric Buchholtz had 13; Chase Chandler had 14; Kyle Knight had three and Wenzel had seven.

  The win carried over to Saturday when the boys traveled to Gilpin County High School to take on mountain rivals, the GC Eagles who have struggled this past season, but were anticipating the game against their neighbors.

  It was an action-packed game that ended with a Panther victory 77-66.

  Chase Chandler hit two three-point targets, Kyle Knight hit one and Eric Buchholtz was deadly under the basket in the first period to take a 20-12 lead.

  Gilpin went for the long shots giving Ned the opportunity to rebound and score. Eagle Scott Bacon went after the three-pointers, coming up with a hefty 30 points. Matt Hardy was in the air going after the rebounds, claiming 10.

  But as hard as the Eagles fought, the Panthers were up by 11 at halftime and 20 in the third period, a big hole to dig out of.

  Coach Bailey Clark says, “We are in good shape right now, not real beat up. We’re ready to go into playoffs. The game against Gilpin was fun.”

  On Monday, the Panthers led the Crusaders at the end of the first period by a scant 13-12. They forged slightly ahead in the second period when Dominic Massa got hot with the three-pointers, but then Maranatha answered the challenge and the boys hit the lockers tied at 33-33.

  Third period was a defensive battle, and by the fourth period, Ned was down by two. Then the spark was gone and the Crusaders marched to a 10-point lead, a disappointing finish to the regular season, but the Front Range battle should be competitive.

  The Eagles hosted Longmont Christian in their first playoff game.

  After the game on Saturday, Gilpin County Eagle Coach Jim Smyth said, “I have seen a huge improvement in this team over the season. This game, against Nederland, was the best game that they have played thus far. I am very proud to coach these young men and look forward to our playoff game Tuesday night.”

Matt Hardy - 8 pts, 10 reb, 5 blks, 4 stls

Calvin Berg - 2 pts, 2 reb

Ryan Hill - 13 pts, 6 reb, 1 blk, 3 stls

Andy Schafer - 6 reb

Austin Bell - 13 pts,4 reb, 1 stl

Scott Bacon - 30 pts, 1 reb, 1 blk, 4 stls