Panthers Win Second Nail-Biter In A Week

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Jan 20, 2012

Wes Vork-NSO

Calling the South Ridge Panther boys cardiac kids is by no means a stretch of the imagination when looking at the results of their past three games. On Friday the Panthers game against Chisholm once again came down to the buzzer with the Panthers coming out on the top end of a 45-44 contest.

Playing three games in a week is a tough run for any team, but consider this. On Friday the 13th, South Ridge traveled to Hill City and won in Double overtime behind Cody Karppinen’s 22 points. Then on Tuesday the Panthers got back on the bus and traveled to Eveleth-Gilbert, where they force double overtime again, but came up just short in a 67-63 game. Now, on Friday in the confines of their new gym, the Panthers hosted Chisholm in a 45-44 game that wasn’t decided until the final buzzer went off.

Falling behind by seven points at halftime in a defensive low scoring 27-20 half, the Panthers came alive in the second half and outscored Chisholm 25-17 for the nail-biting win.

With 15 seconds remaining in the contest and Chisholm up by two points, the Panthers defense came through when Drew Janke forced a turnover on a five second call to get the ball back for South Ridge. Dan Wood took full advantage of the final opportunity for the Panthers by draining a 3-pointer to put his team up by a point at 45-44 with 10 seconds remaining. Chisholm did get off a final shot for the win; but good Panther defense forced a miss, giving them the second thrilling win in a week of three close finishes.

The clutch 3-pointer at the end was one of five long range bombs that Wood hit on the night en-route to scoring a game high 27 points. The Panthers were also helped by Colton Peterson with seven, Aaron Smith with four, Dominic Janke with three and Robbie McQuade and Drew Janke with two points each.

Aden Casey and Aaron Musberger led the Bluestreaks in double figures with 17 and 13 points respectively.

On Monday the Panthers will take on Silver Bay as part of a boys-girls home doubleheader and will host Anders Broman and the Lakehead Christian Academy Lions on Tuesday.

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