A pair of heavy-duty rivals took the lid off the 2024-2025 basketball season on Friday.

There is no love lost between Panther Valley and Marian.

The Colts played the role to the hilt, sporting all black uniforms – ala Duke University. It led their head coach Scott Murphy to quip, “We’re looked at like Darth Vadar, why not dress the part.”

It was a grind, as usual, and it took one overtime before Panther Valley swung the door open in a rush to knock down the Colts, 64-56, for a non-league win.

For sure, these two teams have things to rework, and it is a long season that doesn’t hit the brakes until March.

Right now, Panther Valley has found a way to score in the paint and has a floor general who will make sure of that the ball is distributed often.

The likes of Logan Fisher, who stands 6-2, and Danny Wehr (6-4), used their muscle combine for 37 points, and Connor Penberth wasn’t shy when it came to scoring, as he knocked down 21. Fisher led the gang with 26, Wehr poured in 12 and they both had a huge night inside rebounding, to turn the tables on a Marian, especially in the second half.

Marian looked the better of the two, gushing out to a 28-24 lead at the half. If Jake Tom (seven points) wasn’t cashing in, there was Danny Catone and Justin De La Cruz, the team’s leading scoring on the night with 10 points, doing their share of damage.

Pat Crampsie’s club wasn’t buying into the deficit, as they turned the tables with some gritty play over the third and fourth quarter. Fisher found his groove, burying nine points in a third quarter rally they helped his team outscore Marian 16-7 to surge in front 40-34. It also helped when Penberth began to take matters into his hand with 10 second half points.

“He’s our floor general and has really been a big leader for us early in the (preseason),” Crampsie mentioned. “The building was full of energy the entire game. I thought we got a great effort from Danny (Wehr) Logan (Fisher) in that second half, they really asserted themselves, especially the way they rebounded.”

What really uplifted the Panthers came over the final two minutes and 52 seconds of the third quarter. Marian had just moved in front 34-31 on a Yaniel Nunez basket, then Fisher stood tall, muscling inside for a three-point play to tie things. A minute later Penberth pulled up for a deuce in the paint. A player technical foul shot made it 37-34, then Brady Jones lowered the boom with a corner trey.

“That was such a huge shot, it gave us a lot of confidence” Crampsie suggested.

Marian quickly dug in and found its swagger, gathering a boost of much-needed momentum, Its defense, led by Noel Matos, put the clamps on the Panthers, forcing them into six errors and just when it looked like the game was settling back into the Panther Valley corner, thanks to Penberth, who sank four foul conversions for a 53-50 lead with 1;51 to play. However, Marian quickly regrouped behind Justin De La Cruz and Catone to tie things and force the extra session.

Then there was Wehr sinking a bucket inside, Fisher hitting a foul shot, muscling his way for another bucket, before Wehr sank two more fouls, and suddenly the curtain was dropping on Marian’s hopes. Panther Valley owned the overtime to seal the win.

“You know there was so many swings of emotion as much as scoring, but I’m just glad the way we hung in there. I was happy the way we reacted after not playing very well in the first half,” Crampsie allowed. “It’s good to get things right to start the season… it’s long one and we have a long way to go.”

QUOTABLE I… “We wear this 2.9 on the back of this hoodie; that’s how many points we have returning,” said Murphy, explaining how this youthful band of players need to find their way.

QUOTABLE II… “We figured they’d roll guys in and out and I liked how we responded.” Crampsie on Marian’s depth that featured 10 different players who saw considerable action.

KEYS TO VICTORY… Panther Valley kept its poise, rallied in the second half and got a huge trey by Jones that came just before the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter.

FOULED UP… Panther Valley shot a whopping 39 foul shots, making 21, Marian had but seven and made four.

HONORED… A trio of graduated Panthers had their names hoisted with a new banner for scoring 1,000th career point, Stephen Hood (1,123) and Chase Weaver (1,076), and Lady Panther Maddison Maynard (1.509).

MARIAN

Jus. De La Cruz 4-0-0-10, Nunez 3-0-0-7, Ferreira 3-0-0-7, Tom 3-0-0-7. Catone 2-2-5-6. Griguoli 2-0-0-6. Matos 2-2-2-6, Rodino 2-0-0-4, Tirpak 1-0-0-3, Jac. De La Cruz 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-4-7-56.

PANTHER VALLEY

Fischer 10-6-11-26, Penberth 5-11-21-21, Wehr 5-2-3-12, Jones 1-1-2-4, Neziri 0-1-2-1-1, Boneravage 0-0-0-0, Krynock 0-0-0-0. Totals 22-21-39-64.

Marian 12 16 7 14 2 – 56

Panther Vy 10 14 16 14 10 – 64

Three-pointers: Marian - Jus. De La Cruz 2, Ferreira 1, Tirpak 1, Tom 1, Nunez 1. Panther Valley - Jones 1,