Alberton douses Hot Springs

It wasn't their best game and shots weren't falling for them. And calls constantly went against them, but the Alberton Panthers found a way to fight through the adversity and come away with 41-36 victory over the Savage Heat in Hot Springs Saturday.

Alberton coach Chris Clevenger said it wasn't the prettiest game, but when his boys can beat a tough team away this late in the season he'll take it. "Anytime you can win on the road it's a good win," he said.

Clevenger said that he saw a lot of progress in how the Panthers handled the adversity in the game. "It's a game we might have lost earlier in the year, just because we might not have been mentally strong enough," he said. "I think it shows that we have grown and can buckle down and win a game when things don't go our way," he said.

With the district tournament just around the corner, Clevenger said this mental toughness is what the Panthers needed to advance to their sixth-straight divisional tournament, and after watching Saturday's game he thinks his team is ready for districts. "We're ready. If they could start the tournament tomorrow, they would," he said.

Alberton, which improved to a 12-4 record with the victory, used a strong first quarter to build a big lead and then held on for the next three quarters. All five of the Panthers' starters scored before the Savage Heat could get on the scoreboard and Alberton had a 16-0 lead with less than a minute to play in the quarter. Hot Springs finally got on the board with 32 seconds left to play in the quarter with a 3-pointer by Reiley Winebrenner. Hot Springs added another basket and the Panthers went into the second quarter with a 16-5.

The Savage Heat started to chip away at the 11-point lead in the second quarter, but Panther senior and go-to-guy Jordan Johnson stepped up his game and scored six of the Panther's seven points in the quarter and Alberton went into halftime with a 23-16 lead.

Johnson finished with a game-high 17 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. "He's a senior, so we expect a senior to step up in big situations and he did," Clevenger said. "He hit some big shots," Clevenger added. The Panthers' offense struggled in the third quarter and they could only manage five points on basket by Jaimie Davenport and a 3-pointer by Phillip Brovold. Both Davenport and Brovold finished with seven points. With there offense struggling to find the basket, the Panthers stepped up their defense and held Hot Springs to six points to go into the final quarter with a 28-22 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Savage heat had narrowed the lead to 36-31, but Panther guard Cody Hoose, who finished with six points and five boards, iced the game with a jump shot with 1:31 left to play in the game and Alberton went on to win their 12th game of the season.

On Friday, the Panthers faced no adversity when they took on Arlee at home. Alberton had three players finish in double figures in scoring and scored almost 80 points in a 79-48 rout over the Warriors.

Johnson led the way with 24 points. Hoose had 19 points and Jerry Brovold finished with 16. Both Davenport and Phillip Brovold had seven points.

Alberton finishes their regular season with two home games. The Panthers will seek to get some redemption from a last second loss earlier in the season when they take on the Bobcats Tuesday then they face Lincoln Saturday.