This past weekend the Whitharral basketball programs hosted the Whitharral Invitational tournament, with the Lady Panthers going a perfect 4-0 and the Panthers going 2-1.
The Lady Panthers started with a 58-8 win over Bovina, led by Paige Smith with 27 points, Rylee Kristinek with 11 points and Aerieana Rodriguez with seven points.
Next, they beat Dumas 62-27, behind 25 points from Smith, 18 points from Kristinek and 10 points from Rodriguez.
Then they beat Tatum 4940, led by Smith with 28 points and Rodriguez with 14 points. Finally, they beat Lorenzo 67-34 behind a 42-point performance by Smith and seven points from Rodriguez.
Smith was named to All-Tournament team with 122 total points and 30.5 points per game in tournament play.
“Overall, 4-0 on the weekend,” Lady Panthers Head Coach Madison Ortega said. “I thought we did a great job handling business. Tatum was a tough, physical team and a good battle for us.”
Coach Ortega also gave a shoutout to Crosbyton’s Alexis Godinez, who cut her leg badly on the bleachers while making a hustle play. Coach Ortega updated that she’ll be okay but asked that the community would send thoughts and prayers her way.
In the Panthers matchups, they began with a 69-22 win over Southcrest as Brent Robinson, Damian Rodriguez and Nate Sansom all scored in double figures. Robinson recorded 21 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, Rodriguez recorded 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, and Sansom recorded 14 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocks.
Then they beat Bovina 8330 with the same trio powering the win. Sansom had 24 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and a block, Rodriguez had 21 points, eight assists, eight rebounds and four steals, and Robinson had 16 points, four assists, four rebounds and four steals.
They wrapped up tournament play with a 68-64 loss to Olton, led by Robinson with 28 points, seven rebounds and an assist, and Sansom with 21 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
“This weekend was beneficial to the Whitharral boy's program. We improved our after-team performance and became a better team overall,” Panthers Head Coach Brett Berger said. “We learned to take it one possession at a time and make the most of every second. We have played Olton for the past two years in the championship game and have fallen short each time. Their point guard was hard to handle; we struggled defending his midrange jumper, but we were able to keep it close. We are still learning how to close out games, and this was another one to get better from.”
Even though they didn’t end it how they wanted, the Panthers still put on some awesome performances, which were reflected by the All-Tournament honors that Brent Robinson and Nate Sansom earned.
Following the tournament, the Panthers are now 6-6 overall, and the Lady Panthers are 11-4 overall.
Both teams are back in action early in the week before returning on Friday at home against Elida. The girls are slated to play at 6 p.m. and the boys at 7 p.m.