Two Panther wins to start at Vandalia
(VANDALIA) — The Pana Panthers boys basketball team started off the 49th annual Vandalia Holiday Tournament on a good note -make that two good notes – as the defeated two long- time rivals on Monday. In the opening game of the tournament, Pana defeated Shelbyville, 74-39 and in the evening game, came away with a 58-46 win over Nokomis.
Vs. Shelbyville-
Brenden Schoonover scored a game-high 23 points and Colin Schmitz added 18 more in the run away victory. Pana was up, 26-8, after the first quarter and never looked back.
Devon Peebles was the third Panther scoring in double figures with 10 points. Kyle Kuhn chipped in with 7 while Max Lynch scored 6. Drew Hackler and Evan Hudlin scored 4 apiece and Ethan Hicks rounded out the scoring with 2 points.
Drake McDonald led the Rams with 10 points.
Pana had a 43-24 advantage at halftime, then out-scored Shelbyville, 24- 15 in the second half. The Panthers made 3-of-5 free throws, 60% and the Rams shot 31% at the line, 4-of- 13.
Vs. Nokomis-
Devon Peebles scored a game-high 21 points in Pana’s win over Nokomis. He got 18 of those points in the first half, scoring 3 from long-distance.
It was a fairly balanced scoring attack for the Panthers as Brenden Schoonover and Colin Schmitz were also in double figures with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Drew Hackler finished with 6 points; Kyle Kuhn, 2 points; and Evan Hudlin with a free throw.
Pana’s lead was 20-18 after the first half and they took a 45-23 lead into the final 8 minutes. But Nokomis finished in a flurry, out-scoring Pana, 23-13 down the stretch to make it interesting.
Shooting from the floor, the Panthers were 22-of- 50 for 44% and Nokomis made 19-of-39, 49%. From the charity strip, Pana shot 77%, making 10-of-13. Nokomis made half of their 8 attempts.
The Panthers got 22 team rebounds with Kuhn having 6 and Peebles and Hackler, 5 each.
Pana is 2-0 in the tournament and face Father McGivney at 3:30 p.m. today. Wednesday has the Panthers tangling with the Wolves from Flora at 8:00 p.m. Flora is the number 3 seed in the tournament while Pana is number 2.
The Panthers are riding an 8-game winning streak and are 8-1 this season.
