Panthers take fourth at district tournament
Nick Ianniello
Mineral Independent
The Alberton Panthers Boys Basketball Team finished up in fourth place after some tough games at the Western District 13 – C tournament at the Sister Rita Activity Center in Missoula last week.
“We played some tough basketball,” said Alberton Panthers Head Coach Chris Clevenger.
The Panthers took away a big win in their first game after using an early lead to stave off a final quarter drive by the Lincoln Lynx.
The Panthers outscored the Lynx 18 – 9 in the first quarter and again 9 – 6 in the second quarter for a 27 – 15 lead that would prove to be invaluable heading into the second half.
The Lynx stepped up their game in the third quarter, driving in 12 points to the Panthers’ nine points in the third quarter.
The Lynx again outscored the Panthers 20 – 14 in the fourth quarter. The offensive push from the Lynx proved to not be enough and the Panthers won the game 50 – 45.
Cody Hoose led the Panthers in scoring with 21 points while Jerry Brovold sunk 20 points of his own in the Panther’s first game of the tournament.
The Panthers then lost a tough game against the top-seeded Drummond Trojans Thursday night.
The Panthers had a tough time breaking through the Trojan offense, with the Trojans outscoring them 15 – 5 in the first quarter and 26 – 9 in the second quarter for a 41 – 14 lead by halftime.
The third quarter proved to be equally difficult with the Trojans outscoring the Panthers 19 – 8. In the fourth quarter the Panthers held the Trojans to seven points, but only managed to net three points of their own for a 70 – 25 second-day loss.
Brovold led the team offensively with 12 points against Drummond.
The Panthers stepped up their game in their third match of the week taking Philipsburg out of the tournament Friday evening.
The game started out neck and neck with Philipsburg matching Alberton point for point in the first quarter.
Alberton played some tougher offense in the second quarter however and pulled away from Phillipsburg outscoring them 16 – 6 for a 26 – 16 lead at halftime.
The Panthers continued to widen their lead, outscoring Philipsburg 19 – 8 in the third quarter and 18 – 11 in the fourth quarter for a 32 – 35 win.
Brovold led the team in scoring with 28 points while Zach Brown racked up 15 points for the Panthers.
Alberton faced off against Lincoln again in their final game of the tournament on Saturday.
Despite Alberton’s early 10 – 7 lead in the first quarter the Lynx managed to outscore the Panthers 17 – 9 in the second quarter for a 24 – 19 lead at halftime.
The Panthers outscored the Lynx 10 – 9 in the third quarter but their push for the win was not enough. With each team scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter the Lynx won the game for third place 44 – 40.
Brovold racked up 17 points for the Panthers while Hoose drove in 11 points of his own in the final game of the tournament.
The Panthers finished up the tournament with a season record of 11 – 10.