Whenever Panther Valley and Jim Thorpe get together in boys’ basketball it seems to always produce a back and forth physical affair. That was once again the case on Friday night in the opening round match-up of the Marian Christmas Tournament.

The contest came down to the wire, but it was the Panthers that were able to make a few more plays down the stretch, using their physicality on the boards to edge the Olympians 49-45.

PV was also aided in the win by a strong first quarter start. The Panthers jumped out to a 17-8 lead after the first. Seven points from Danny Wehr and four points apiece from Connor Penberth and Logan Fisher gave Panther Valley some early separation.

“We were able to come out of the gates and establish ourselves offensively early and that was big,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. “But we had a tough time maintaining it. Credit to Jim Thorpe. They played hard and Coach O’Donnell is doing a good job over there. They’re going to give teams some fits as the season goes on.

“I think we just had some lapses and breakdowns there and in the second and third quarter; we just weren’t playing strong enough. Then in the sfourrh, we did a much better job of that and made some key plays down the stretch.”

The second quarter is where the Olympians would get back into the game. Thorpe outscored PV 14-8 in the frame. A 7-0 run midway through the quarter would close the gap to 22–18 with 4:21 remaining in the half. A deuce from Aaron Curran, followed by an offensive rebound and put-back plus the foul by Cole Lazorick would get the JT rally started. Triples from Blaze Flyzik and Pierce Gothard were also big for Thorpe in the quarter as it would trail by just three at the break (25-22).

“We battled all night. We knew coming in that controlling Fisher and Wehr in the paint was going to be tough. But our guys fought hard,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell. “I thought in the middle quarters we did a really good job of keeping their guys out of the paint, but in the fourth quarter they just killed us on the boards, especially Fisher. Credit to him, he’s a big and strong player.

“Again, we battled and knowing Coach Crampsie for a long time, and his style, I anticipated he was going to come out and pressure us. We have had some turnover issues, but we did a much better job taking care of the ball tonight. I just thought the difference was again their play on the boards, especially late in the game.”

Thorpe closed the gap even more in third, trailing by just one going into the fourth (35-34). The Olympians actually took the lead early in the frame - fueled by an 8-0 run on three-pointers by Lazorick and Gothard - which eventually led to a 30-27 JT advantage with 4:56 to go in the quarter.

However, PV would battle back with a run of their own, scoring the next six points to go back in front 33-30.

Then came the start of the fourth and the clutch offensive rebounds from the Panthers. An offensive board and kick out to Wehr for three made it 38-34 and another offensive rebound from Fisher that he would put in made it a six-point game in favor of PV. The Panthers looked like they were ready to pull away, leading 45-38 with 2:29 remaining, but JT would give it one last shot. A Brody Schrantz drive and finish plus the harm would make it a four-point game (45-41). PV and JT would then exchange a few buckets - two from Lazorick and one from Fisher - with the Panthers holding a 47-45 lead with 44 seconds left.

With the Panthers taking the ball up the floor, the Olympians’ defense would then get the stop it needed, forcing a turnover and eventually getting the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead on their side of the floor with around 20 seconds to go. But a Thorpe player was called for a violation on a baseline cut going out of bounds, which was deemed by the official to be of his own volition, and coming back into play away from the ball. The violation resulted in PV receiving possession. Penberth was then fouled on the ensuing PV possession and he was able to put the game away with two made free throws for the Panthers.

“We wanted to play through our bigs and they definitely got some big offensive put-backs for us in the fourth quarter,” said Crampsie. “It was a total team effort tonight. Fisher was obviously big for us tonight, but we also had guys come off the bench, like Mrgim Neziri, who came in and gave us some quality minutes. A tough team win tonight.”

BOX SCORE … Fisher led all scorers with 17. Penberth chipped in with 12 and Wehr helped out with 10. For JT, Lazorick scored a team-high 13 and Curran added 10.

THE GLASS … The rebounding department was the difference in this one. PV had three critical offensive rebounds at the start of the fourth that all resulted in made baskets. Fisher led everyone with 10 rebounds.

PANTHER VALLEY

Fisher 7-3-5-17, Penberth 5-2-3-12, Jones 1-0-0-2, Breiner 0-0-0-0, Mitchell 0-0-0-0, Neziri 1-0-0-2, Wehr 4-0-0-10, Baneravage 3-0-3-6. TOTALS: 21-5-11-49.

JIM THORPE

P. Gothard 3-1-2-8, Curran 3-3-4-10, Lazorick 4-1-1-10, Flyzik 2-2-2-7, Kiehl 0-0-0-0, Zurn 0-0-0-0, Antignani 0-0-0-0, Schrantz 4-1-1-10, Moore 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-8-10-45.

Panther Valley 17 8 10 14 - 49

Jim Thorpe 8 14 12 11 - 45

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Wehr 2; Jim Thorpe - P. Gothard 1, Curran 1, Lazorick 1, Flyzik 1, Schrantz 1.

Records: Panther Valley (7-3); Jim Thorpe (1-7).