Pana retains Mid-State Trophy beating Rams
(PANA) — The Pana Panthers boys basketball team clobbered the Shelbyville Rams on Tuesday night in the PHS gym, 72-40, in non-conference action as 4 players scored in double digits. However, they did retain the trophy named for the former conference in which Pana and Shelbyville (and Taylorville, too) belonged, the Mid-State Trophy.
“We came out with great energy and execution from the tip,” Pana Head Coach Adam Metzger said. “Our defensive effort was great and we shared the ball well.”
The Panthers were led in the balanced scoring attack by Devon Peebles with 18 points with 8 of them coming in the decisive first quarter. Pana had a 25-9 lead after the first frame and by halftime, enjoyed a 41-13 advantage.
Brenden Schoonover followed with 17 points
and Kyle Kuhn added an even dozen to also finish
in double figures. Colin Schmitz dropped in 11 points. Among those players, they accounted for all of Pana’s 6 3-pointers. Peebles had 3 of them and one
each for the other trio. Ace Armstrong chipped in with 6 points and Max Lynch and Drew Hackler added 4 apiece to round out the scoring. Pana connected on 6-of-11 free throws for 72% while Shelbyville hit 5-of-7, 71%. The Panthers will be in action on the road both Friday and Saturday night, Dec. 10 and 11. Friday, they travel to Hillsboro for the first South Central Conference game of the season and on Saturday, they face a tough, non-conference foe in Auburn. Games on Friday feature all three boys teams – freshman, JV and varsity – and begins at 5:00 p.m. Saturday’s action gets underway at 6:00 p.m.
