Panther Valley basketball coach Pat Crampsie showed pronounced exuberance following his basketball team’s winning of the Marian Christmas Tournament on Saturday.

The Panthers defeated host Marian for the championship trophy, 50-39.

“We’re 8-3 right now,” Crampsie said enthusiastically. “The only people who thought we’d be 8-3 right now are the guys in the locker room,” referring to the fact that his team lost several pivotal players last year through graduation.

One reason for the victory was an explosive start by Brady Jones. The 5-11 senior guard burst onto the court like a spurred bull exiting a rodeo chute.

He swished back-to-back three pointers and followed with a deuce, putting PV in front 8-4. Moments later he fired another triple, which ejected PV into a quick 10-point lead.

For the night, Jones tallied 13 points - 11 of them coming in that first quarter.

“We told him after last night he had to come out firing tonight,” Crampsie said of Jones. “That started us rolling right from the jump.”

The coach added that overall, though, “It was a total team effort.”

Two individuals who got praise from Crampsie were Danny Wehr and Logan Fisher, “our big boys,” he said.

Wehr, the 6-4 junior guard who all season has been consistent, scored 13 points - including two three-pointers - in addition to hauling in seven rebounds.

Fisher, a senior better referred to as “Fish” by his peers, got nine points and pulled in 15 rebounds - nine of them on defense.

Connor Penberth, a usual scoring stalwart in the Panther lineup, was closely guarded. He had one field goal, but was fouled five times and made eight of his 10 free throws.

Dominance under the boards was another major story of the night, as well as another key reason PV won over the Colts.

For the night, the Panthers outrebounded their opponent, 33-15.

Marian head coach Scott Murphy said the reason PV won was “rebounding 100 percent.”

“They killed us on the glass,” he said. “They absolutely dominated us on rebounds. That’s a credit to them. They’re a physical team, and we got beat tonight.”

Of the 15 rebounds for Marian, Rocio Griguoli and Dominic Catrone had four each.

Justin De La Cruz topped the scorers for the home team with 10 points.

Marian had the lead just once, when a quick bucket at the start by Griguoli made the score 2-0.

After trailing by 10 early in the second quarter, a 10-point rally knotted the score at 18-18 before Panther Valley retaliated with a slight rally.

“I was really happy with the defensive efforts especially,” said Crampsie. “They came out focused. It was nice to get out to the early lead, and then we absorbed some bumps along the way,” the coach added, referring to the comeback burst by Marian.

“Our goal going into this holiday break was coming to Hometown and win the championship,” Crampsie said. “Leaving Hometown with a trophy is a great way to end the holiday break and start the new year.”

Neither zones nor man-to-man coverage could tame the Panthers. Murphy said he felt the zoning was effective, “but we struggled to box out.”

“I’m super proud of these kids,” Crampsie said, “They’re a good quality team.”

THEIR SECOND MEETING ... This is the second time this season Marian and Panther Valley have met on the basketball court. Early in the season, PV bested the Colts, 64-56.

HOW THEY GOT HERE ... Panther Valley reached the championship game by defeating Jim Thorpe on Friday, 49-45. Marian reached the finals with a 30-point win over Freeland MMI on Friday, 58-28.

NEXT ON THE AGENDA ... Marian will be home on Friday against Mahanoy Area. The next game for Panther Valley is at home on Monday, Jan. 6, against Tamaqua.

PANTHER VALLEY

Fisher 4-1-1-9, Penberth 1-8-10-10, Jones 5-0-0-13, Breiner 0-0-0-0, Neziri 1-3-6-5, Wehr 5-1-2-13, Baneravage 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-13-19-50.

MARIAN

Catrone 3-1-2-7, Nunez 2-0-0-5, Justin De La Cruz 4-0-0-10, Jacob De La Cruz 0-0-0-0, Ferreira 3-0-0-6, Rodino 1-0-0-2, Tom 1-0-0-2, Knock 0-0-0-0, Matos 0-0-0-0, Tirpak 0-0-0-0, Griguoli 2-3-5-7. TOTALS: 16-4-7-39.

Panther Valley 16 11 9 14 - 50

Marian 8 11 9 11 - 39

Three Pointers: Panther Valley - Jones 3, Wehr 2; Marian - Justin De La Cruz 2, Nunez 1.

Records: Panther Valley (8-3), Marian (5-4).