The 10th ranked Whitharral Panthers never trailed, but couldn’t quite put the visiting Whiteface Antelopes away on January 9 in UIL District 7-1A Boys’ High School Basketball action.
“I’m just really proud of the guys for going out and working to execute the game plan,” said Whitharral Head Basketball Coach Matthew White.
“Whiteface is a long, athletic squad,” he continued. “so we were excited to come away with a win.”
White added that playing quality opponents like Whiteface helps the Panthers get better.
“Our goal is to get better with every opportunity we get…and I feel like we got better last night.”
“We got off to a slow start,” said Whiteface Head Basketball Coach Brandon Flores. “I thought we allowed Whitharral to dictate the pace of the game in the first half.”
Flores said the Antelopes did better in the second half, but couldn’t overcome the deficit.
“We actually outscored Whitharral in the second half,” he said, “unfortunately we dug ourselves a pretty big hole early.”
The Panthers shut Whiteface’s Ethan Kauffman down in the first quarter. Kauffman would go on to lead all scorers with 15 points.
The only Whiteface points came from a trey by Noah Rendon and two baskets and a free throw from Cayden Timmons.
Whitharral’s Brent Robinson scored seven points on his own with a trey and two baskets. Nate Sansom had a basket and two free throws and Jack Griffin had a free throw for a 12-8 Panther lead at the buzzer.
The second quarter started with a basket from Panther Nomar Gomez just 40 seconds in to the period, igniting a 9-0 run on baskets from Robinson and Sansom as well as a free throw from Griffin.
The Antelopes were finally able to answer with a basket from Jeremias Chavez at the 3:41 mark.
Whitharral’s Landon Lee hit a trey on the next Panther possession for a 24-10 Whitharral lead with 3:11 left in the half.
Kauffman got his first basket of the game with just under three minutes left , but the Panthers answered with back-to-back baskets from Sansom at 2:13 and 1:10.
Timmons hit the last basket of the half, cutting the Whitharral lead to 28-14 with 15 seconds left before the buzzer.
The Antelopes opened with a basket from Chavez 10 seconds into the third quarter, then it was all Kauffman for an 10-0 run over nearly five minutes of playing time.
Griffin broke the Antelope spell at around 3:30 with a trey, followed by another from Gomez and a putback from Sansom for an answering 8-0 run from the Panthers to finish the third period with the Panthers leading 36-24.
Gomez opened the fourth with a basket plus free throw for a 39-24 lead just seconds into the last period. Gomez scored the only other Whitharral basket in the game as well.
The Antelopes answered with a 6-0 run on baskets from Isaak Soliz, Chavez and Kauffman, cutting the Panthers’ lead to 3930 with 5:16 left in the game.
A free throw from Brolin Kennedy extended the Whitharral lead to 40-30, but a free throw from Soliz made it 40-31.
A basket, followed by two free throws from Robinson put the Panthers up 45-31 with 50 seconds left.
The final score was a trey from Kauffman with 36 seconds left, making the score Whitharral 45, Whiteface 34.
Sansom led the Panther scoring with 14 points. Robinson had 12. Gomez had 10. Griffin had five. Lee had three. Kennedy had one.
Kauffman led the Antelopes and all scorers with 15 points. Timmons had seven. Chavez had six. Soliz and Rendon had three each.
The Panthers will continue district play in Meadow at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
The Antelopes will be in Morton for an 8 p.m. district matchup, also on Friday.