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[Rocketcorner News]

Panther's Win One on the Road

By: Evan Skilliter

BLUFFTON, Ohio - The McComb Panthers traveled to Bluffton Saturday to take on the Pirates. The game was the second for both teams, Bluffton coming off a loss at Perry Friday and McComb earning a win in their season opener against Ayersville.

The Panther’s looked to the three ball to lead them to victory, shooting 23 times from behind the arc over the course of the game, compared to only 14 attempts within two point range. It worked early as McComb went 4-8 from three point land in the first quarter, including two three’s from senior guard Austan Westenbarger. Bluffton’s Matt Gillett kept the Pirates close, scoring 7 points with help from a three of his own. McComb led 14-11 after one quarter of play.

Gillett continued his scoring to start the second quarter, adding another three to tie the score at 14. However, the score would not stay tied long as McComb went on a small 7-2 run, consisting of an Adam Newcomer three pointer and scores by Dillon Buck and Cody Wilson. After a Pirate time out, freshman Levi Kistler ended the run with a bucket and a free throw, pulling the Pirates back within two points. Sophomore Noah Stratton then added two points on a layup, sending the two teams into the locker room with the score tied at 21 all. Gillett led all scorers at the break with 10 points, while McComb was led by Westenbarger’s 6 points on his 2 first quarter three pointers.

McComb’s Wilson started the second half hot, scoring 8 points in the first three minutes of the third quarter. In those three minutes, he went 2-2 from the field as well as 1-2 from beyond the arc and 1-1 from the free throw line. Even with Wilson on fire, the Pirates were able to keep pace with the Panthers, due largely in part to Matt Gillett, who scored 7 of the Pirates’ 9 third quarter points.

Going into the final quarter, McComb held a 33-30 lead. That that lead was soon erased 20 seconds into the frame with a three pointer by Pirate freshman Jordan Skilliter. The Skilliter three ignited an 8-1 Bluffton run that pushed the Pirates out to a 38-34 lead. They would see that lead quickly diminish as the Panther’s closed the gap and took a 42-40 lead with around 2 minutes left in the game. A free throw by freshman Austin Bricker brought the Pirates to within one point of the lead with around 1:30 left to play, but McCombs own freshman, Clay Grubb, answered with a score in the paint, increasing the Panther lead to 44-41. Bluffton was unable to produce any points the rest of the game, while McComb’s Dalton Buck finished the Pirates off, making 3 of 4 free throws in the final 30 seconds of play, making the final score 47-41 in favor of the visitors.

The Pirates’ Matt Gillett led all scorers for the night, racking up 22 points. Gillett made 5 of 12 shots from the field, went 3 for 5 from behind the arc, and finished 3-5 from the free throw line. Other Pirates receiving tallies in the score book include Bricker (3 points), Noah Stratton (4 points), Donley (6 points), Skilliter (3 points) and Kistler (3 points).

The Panthers were led by Junior Cody Wilson’s 11 points effort on 3-5 from the field, 1-5 from three, and 2-3 from the free throw line. He is joined in the books by Jacob Lanning (2 points), Newcomer (4 points), Buck (5 points), Westenbarger (6 points), Jerry Brown (9 points), and Grubb (9 points).

Bluffton out-rebounded McComb 19-16, but committed 2 more turnovers than the Panthers (15-13). McComb went 10-14 from the field (71%) while the Pirates made 10 of 24 (42%). McComb struggled from the three point line, only hitting 6 of 23 attempts (26%), as the Pirates made 4 of their 10 attempts (40%).

The Panthers (2-0) will try to remain unbeaten next Friday, December 9th as Arcadia comes to town. The Pirates (0-2) will look to turn things around against the Bath Wildcats on Saturday, December 10th at home.