In the wild, Panthers are aggressive, rather than defensive. Against Beatty, the Panther boys were both aggressive and defensive in their 65-35 Jan. 18 win over the Hornets, in Alamo.
Stockton Maxwell had 22 points to lead all scorers as the Panthers defeated the Hornets for the 15th consecutive time since 2009.
Preston Higbee scored 14 points and Isbiel Riera added eight points and nine rebounds.
Fabian Perez had 10 points for Beatty.
Pahranagat took the lead early with a 13-5 first quarter and just kept up the man-to-man defensive pressure on the Hornets throughout the game, switching between man and zone as the situation required.
Coach Michael Strong said employing the man-to-man defense has been a big change for the team of late, giving them more confidence. “I feel that the team is starting to click. Our man-to-man defense has gotten a lot better and we put a lot of time into it in practice. It helps us rebound better and get into our fast break, push the ball up and down the floor. We’re moving the ball really well on offense right now.”
The second quarter was an even bigger one for the Panthers as they outscored the Hornets, 25-13. Higbee accounted for 12 of his 14 points that quarter and Maxwell had eight of his 22 points that period.
The Panthers got scoring help from seven players altogether, including eight points each from Kyler Martin, John Hansen, and Riera.
“Those are awesome numbers to have,” Strong said, “We’ll take those anytime. We’re just going one game at a time. Our only goal each time is to go 1-0.”
The Panthers, the league leaders (8-9, 3-0), kept up pace in the second half, outscoring the Hornets, 27-17, with Maxwell getting 11 more of his points.
Only three times in the past 15 games have the Panthers given up more than 35 points to the Hornets.
Pahranagat played Word of Life in Alamo on Thursday, Jan. 24 and will travel to Indian Springs on Friday.
