You have to take them to make them.

After a tough three-point shooting performance in the first half, Panther Valley was able to rattle off six triples in a row during a span that covered the late third and early fourth quarters.

The Panthers’ hot shooting stretch propelled them to a key Schuylkill League Division 1 victory Thursday over Pine Grove, 56-45.

“I know we always talk about Panther grit, but tonight was a great example of that,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. “We just hung in there throughout the game after not shooting the ball that well for a majority of the game. Nothing was going our way, and then Brady Jones got it going for us and it was like an avalanche.”

Not much went the Panthers’ way in the first half and also much of the third quarter.

But PV continued to battle to keep its deficit manageable. After a Brody Breiner pull-up gave the Panthers a 15-14 lead with 6:06 left to go in the first half, PV wouldn’t score another field goal until around the seven-minute mark of the third.

The Cardinals were able to take advantage of the Panthers’ shooting woes, taking a 23-16 lead into the intermission and extending it to 11 (31-20) with two minutes to go in the third frame. The Panthers shot 6-for-25 from the field in the first half, including 1-for-14 from behind the arc.

“We knew we were going to see their zone, and we worked on it the past two days. I just thought we didn’t move the ball well enough in the first half,” said Crampsie. “I felt like we weren’t in attack mode, and we were too congested in certain areas.

“And then on top of that, we shot the ball very poorly. But eventually against the zone, you have to start knocking down some shots. At the half, we talked about that, and we felt fortunate to only be down seven after not shooting the ball well at all.”

With PV trailing by 11, Connor Penberth got the shooting barrage started with a three-pointer from the left wing.

Then enter senior Brady Jones, who set the Panthers’ gymnasium ablaze.

Jones hit three consecutive triples to help PV close the third on a 12-0 run, and give it a 32-31 lead going into the fourth.

“Everybody struggled shooting in the first half, but at the start of the third we started to move the ball more and we were able to get some better looks,” said Jones. “I was just a little off in the first half. I was just missing everything a little right, but my shot felt good. And then I hit that first one late in third, and my teammates kept finding me and getting me looks and I was able to knock them down.

“Then in the fourth, we really bared down defensively, and again we passed the ball well down the stretch.”

Jones continued to stay hot, getting a trifecta from the right corner to up the Panthers’ lead to 35-31, and then another Penberth three kept PV in control with 6:29 left to go.

The rest of the floor started to open up for the Panthers as a Breiner deuce, followed by a nice drive and dish by Breiner to Logan Fisher, gave PV a seven-point lead with under two minutes to play. A baseline drive by Penberth, who dropped it off to Fisher for another inside bucket, kept the lead at seven after two Pine Grove free throw makes.

Two technical fouls from Pine Grove with around a minute remaining gave the Panthers six consecutive foul shots and a 10-point lead (51-41), which sealed the deal for the Panther Valley victory.

“I also want to commend our guys for playing tough defense throughout the night,” said Crampsie. “When we were struggling offensively, we had to jack up the pressure, and I think that’s what kept us in the game.

“Again, a really tough performance from our guys tonight. They handled the adversity well and never gave up.”

LEADERS … Penberth led the way for PV with 14. Jones added 12, and Danny Wehr chipped in with 10. Fisher finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. For the Cardinals, Quinn Brommer scored a game-high 20 points, while Chase Sarge and Hayden Felty both finished with 11.

HE IS HEATING UP … PV was 1-for-17 from beyond the arc before Penberth and Jones helped the Panthers hit six consecutive three-point shots.

FOURTH-QUARTER FINISH … The Panthers went into lockdown mode in the fourth, as the PV defense forced six Pine Grove turnovers, while the Panthers only turned it over once.

PINE GROVE

Sarge 4-2-3-11, Smeltz 0-0-0-0, Allen 0-0-0-0, Herber 0-0-0-0, Felty 2-7-7-11, Brommer 7-3-4-20, Lyons 0-1-2-1, Dubbs 1-0-0-2, Berra 0-0-0-0, Snyder 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 14-13-18-45.

PANTHER VALLEY

Krynock 0-0-0-0, Fisher 3-5-8-11, Penberth 4-4-7-14, Jones 4-0-0-12, Breiner 2-3-4-7, Neziri 0-0-0-0, Wehr 4-1-2-10, Banveravage 1-0-0-2, Gjoca 0-0-0-0, McArdle 0-0-0-0, Caffery 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-13-21-56.

Pine Grove 11 12 8 14 - 45

Panther Valley 10 6 16 24 - 56

Three-pointers: Pine Grove - Brommer 3, Sarge 1; PV - Jones 4, Penberth 2, Wehr 1.

Records: Pine Grove (3-2; 1-2); Panther Valley (5-1; 2-1).