Earlier this week, the Whitharral Panthers and Lady Panthers basketball teams were both in action, with the Panthers beating Eula, 64-43, and the Lady Panthers falling to Denver City, 47-31.
The Panthers were in action first this past Monday, playing host to Eula and dominating them by 21 points, to earn their third consecutive win and improve to 11-8 overall.
“We played a great game. Learned to play within the offense and knocked down shots,” Panthers Head Basketball Coach Brett Berger said. “We adapted to the defense and executed plays very well.”
One of the players knocking down shots was Damian Rodriguez, who led the team in scoring with 20 points on 8/13 shooting and four three-pointers made, adding seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.
Other standouts included Brent Robinson with 17 points on 8/13 shooting, five rebounds, two steals and an assist, Nate Sansom with 13 points on 5/7 shooting, five rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist, and Hudson Dobrovolny with six points, seven rebounds and a steal.
And rounding out the scorers was Greg Johnson with four points, and Christian Reina and Cooper Burns both with two points.
On the Lady Panthers side of things, they traveled to Denver City this past Tuesday, losing 47-31, to fall to 15-7 overall this season.
“We are being battle tested with low numbers and injuries right now,” Lady Panthers Head Basketball Coach Madison Ortega said. “We’re struggling offensively without our leading scorer but still putting in work to get better and be ready for playoffs.”
The Lady Panthers are severely shorthanded currently as they only had six players against Denver City due to injuries to starters Paige Smith and Rylee Kristinek.
Kristinek is out for the season, while Smith is expected to return over the weekend, but in the meantime, the rest of the Lady Panthers have had to step up.
And although it didn’t result in a win, they certainly did against Denver City, with all six active players scoring in the game.
Aerieana Rodriguez led the team in scoring with nine points powered by three three-pointers made, followed by Kalyn Bates with seven points behind four free throws made.
Other scorers included Sheridan Neal with seven points, Valeria Frias with four points, and Brooklyn Corrales and Aaliyah Sanchez both with two points.