by Steve Bradley
Wasaren League leading Stillwater came to visit the HFCS Panther Den Friday night December 18. The Panthers hoped to put a blemish on the Warriors perfect 6 – 0 record, but it wasn’t to be as the Warriors outlasted and finally pulled away, not by much, but enough, to escape the Panther Den with their perfect record intact.[private]
The Panthers were playing with the disadvantage of missing their starting point guard, sophomore Guy Milliman, who broke a finger earlier in the week in a game against Cambridge. Milliman scored in double figures in each of the first two full games he played to start the season. The Panthers did have the incentive of playing to give Panther head coach Mike Lilac win number 300 at home in the Panther Den.
In the first quarter each team’s offense struggled against the opponent’s defense to put points on the board. With two minutes left in the quarter, HF had five points to Stillwater’s six. Averaging almost 30 points per game, Stillwater’s Mitchel Wayland wasn’t much of a factor early in the game as he had trouble zeroing in on the hoop.
The first half was hard fought, with neither team gaining any advantage over the other. With just over five minutes to the half, the Panthers held a two-point, 14 – 12 advantage. When the half ended, the game was tied at 25 all.
The second half started with Connor McCart scoring the first seven Panther points, but falling behind by two with almost three minutes gone in the third quarter. Stillwater’s Wayland began finding the range from three point land. The Panthers worked harder for their points, Stillwater came back to take the lead on a couple of threes.
At the end of three, the Warriors held a three point advantage, 39 – 36. With less than a minute gone in the fourth quarter, the Panthers tied the game at 39 all. From there, the Panthers couldn’t keep up. Wayland, who ended the game with 37 points, really started to pop on the three’s and the Panthers slid backwards over the last couple minutes from the barrage. Panther Wyatt Cushman hit a three late to keep the Stillwater lead in single digits to end the game.
Connor McCart ended the evening with 33 points with a balanced 8 two-pointers and four three-pointers. Wayland had nine three-pointers for the night. Ironically, Wayland shot 4 of 11, or 37 percent, from the free throw line. The Panthers league and overall record stands at 3 – 1.
Vs. Cambridge 12/15 at CCS. The Panthers easily defeated the Cambridge Indians, 63 – 38 after jumping out to a 19 – 6 end of first quarter lead. Connor Mccart had 23 and Rem Hickey added 16.
The Panthers travel to Cohoes High School on Monday, December 28 and will host Broadalbin-Perth on Saturday, January 2 at HFCS.[/private]