Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie had a message after the Panthers come-from-behind, double-overtime victory over Jim Thorpe on Wednesday night.

“It’s not always about playing pretty, it’s about finding a way to get a win,” Crampsie said.

PV trailed for most of the game, but pressure defense, paired with a three-point shooting barrage late in the fourth quarter, helped the Panthers storm back from 14 points down and eventually edge the Olympians in two extra sessions for the 70-66 Schuylkill League win.

“Everything that could go wrong was going wrong for us. We were struggling bad from the field. Credit has to go to Jim Thorpe too because they were hitting some difficult shots at times,” said Crampsie. “It would have been easy for these guys tonight to put their tails between their legs and just say, ‘Tonight is not our night.’ But that hasn’t been the case with our kids all year. We have 11 wins now, and nine of them have been single digits in the fourth quarter.

“We always talk about reacting to adversity. And when things didn’t go their way tonight, they didn’t put their heads down, they lifted each other up, and I’m so proud of these guys for that tonight.”

Thorpe controlled the first three quarters, leading 41-29 going into the fourth. The Olympians led 11-6 after one, and 26-17 at the intermission.

A strong defensive effort was the catalyst for Thorpe’s success during that span, as it limited the Panthers’ top scorers – Connor Penberth and Logan Fisher – to a combined 15 points through the first three frames.

The Olympians also had a balanced scoring attack during that span by spreading PV out and attacking the basket, coming through with some tough buckets. Brody Schrantz led the way with 12 points, Cole Lazorick added 10 and Pierce Gothard had eight during Thorpe’s impressive play through the first three quarters. Aaron Curran and Ethan Moore also came up with huge hits from beyond the arc to give JT momentum going into the final frame.

“Fisher and Wehr killed us on the boards in our first match-up. I thought through the first three quarters we minimized the damage they were able to do on the boards. And offensively, we hit a lot of tough shots,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell. “I thought we attacked the basket aggressively and we got some good looks. But later in the game, Panther Valley picked up the pressure and we unfortunately had some big turnovers. And then they were able to get hot and hit some shots.

“Credit to PV as well. They went out there in the last three minutes and hit a ton of big shots. We did a great job on Penberth for the majority of the game, and then he just was able to explode there for them late. He’s their senior leader, and he played like it. But our guys kept fighting. They kept battling. But at the end of the day, they had one or two more plays than we did in the second overtime.”

It looked like JT would finish it out leading 52-38 with 3:09 left, but that’s when the Panthers turned up the heat on the defensive end. A few costly turnovers sparked a three-point party for PV. A triple from Penberth got the deficit to nine. And then a few plays later, trailing by 11, back-to-back three-pointers from Brody Breiner and Ben Baneravage made it a five-point game.

Thorpe and Panther Valley then traded buckets to keep JT up five (56-51), but then another huge Penberth make from deep made it 56-54 with 31.2 remaining. After coming away unscathed on the defensive end, PV had a shot to tie or win the game. Holding the ball until about 10 seconds remaining, a missed three-point attempt glanced off the rim and found Penberth, who finished the put-back attempt and was fouled. However, the three-point play was not completed, and the game headed to overtime at 56-56.

“I know Connor was frustrated he missed that free throw at the end of regulation. But he made some huge plays for us at the end of game,” said Crampsie. “That again just shows you how these kids react to tough situations and adversity.”

Neither team was able to put together much offense in the first overtime, as it ended 61-61. PV was also dealing with some foul trouble in the extra sessions with Baneravage and Fisher fouling out and not available for the second overtime.

Both teams continued to go back and forth, swapping the lead four times throughout the early minutes of the period. But it was Penberth’s ability to beat defenders off the dribble and get to the foul line that helped the Panthers get just enough breathing room. Four consecutive charity stripe makes from Penberth late gave PV a 69-66 lead, and another make late from the line from Breiner extended the lead to four. Thorpe’s offense also stalled late, as it was held scoreless after the 1:07 mark.

“First and foremost, I want to give a ton of credit to Jim Thorpe. This team is a lot of better than what their record indicates. I know they have been in a lot of tight games, and they have had some tough losses. I think Coach O’Donnell and his staff and players are doing a great job,” said Crampsie. “For us to be 11-6 right now. These guys heard it all after last season about how many points we were losing to graduation. They were having none of that. They started in the spring and they went to work. That hard work gave us the chance to be in the position that we’re in.”

LATE GAME RUN… PV outscored JT 27-15 in the fourth quarter, hitting four huge three-pointers, and also forcing four turnovers late in the frame.

LEADERS… Penberth scored a game-high 28 points along with nine assists and six rebounds. He scored 21 of his points in the fourth and extra periods. Fisher added 17 and 13 rebounds. JT was balanced, with Lazorick leading the way 17 with points after a nice night attacking the rim. Schrantz added 14, including three triples. Gothard and Curran added 13 each.

WIN AND IN.. PV needed one more win to get into the district playoffs and got it with the win over JT. It’s the eighth straight season that the Panthers have qualified for the district playoffs.

PANTHER VALLEY

Fisher 7-3-5-17, Penberth 8-9-10-28, Jones 3-0-0-7, Breiner 2-1-2-6, Neziri 1-1-2-3, Wehr 3-0-2-6, Baneravage 1-0-0-3, McArdle 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-14-21-70.

JIM THORPE

P. Gothard 6-1-2-13, Curran 4-4-4-13, Lazorick 6-5-9-17, Antignani 0-0-0-0, Zurn 0-0-0-0, Schrantz 4-3-4-14, Moore 3-0-3-9. TOTALS: 24-13-22-66.

Panther Valley 6 11 12 27 5 9 - 70

Jim Thorpe 11 15 15 15 5 5 - 66

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Penberth 3, Jones 1, Breiner 1, Baneravage 1. Jim Thorpe - Schrantz 3, Moore 1, Curran 1.

Records: Panther Valley (11-6); Jim Thorpe (3-14)