PANORA — Class 2A seventh-ranked Panorama completed a 20-win regular season with a 62-50 win over visiting Chariton in non-conference girls cage action Monday.
The Panthers (20-1) started the season with 10 wins before suffering a 50-39 loss to visiting Des Moines Christian Jan. 10. Ten consecutive wins have followed, with an outright West Central Conference championship gained along the way.
Monday’s game played out like so many others this season, as the Panthers simply wore down their opponent and then broke their hearts with brilliant free throwing shooting down the stretch as the opponent was forced to foul.
Panorama is second in Class 2A in team free throw percentage at 72.4, having made 267-of-368. Top-ranked Iowa City Regina is first by a whisker, at 72.5 with 200-of-276 made. Only Sigourney has made more 2A foul shots than Panorama, with 270 made, although those have come on 471 attempts, 102 more than the Panthers.
Junior Devyn Kemble leads 2A in accuracy among those having at least 80 attempts, as she has nailed 79-of-92 (85.5 percent) while sophomore point guard Bailey Beckman is sixth at 96-121 (79.3 percent).
Panorama connected on 6-of-8 first half foul shots against Chariton, then made good on 10-of-12 second half trips to the stripe.
The Chargers (14-6) kept the game competitive most of the way, trailing just 14-9 after one frame and 33-28 at the break. The fourth quarter began with the hosts holding a 46-42 lead, but foul shooting and solid defense helped the home team outscore their guests, 16-9, in the final eight minutes to claim the 12-point victory.
Beckman was 6-of-6 at the line and buried three 3-pointers to lead all scorers with 23 points while Kemble had a trey and — for her — an off-night at the line (4-of-6) in scoring 15 points. Morgan Johnk added 11 points, Faith Powell seven and Kellie Prince, Hope Wilderman and Nicole Rolfes two each for the Panthers.
Carlie Schaffer had 17 points and Saydee Terrell 14 for Chariton. Luce Swarthout contributed eight points, Kendall Hardie six, Abbie Peterson three and Aubrie Richards two. Terrell, Swarthout and Hardie had two 3-pointers apiece for the Chargers, who finished 4-of-8 from the foul line as a team.
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Friday’s Game
No. 7 PANORAMA 45, OGDEN 35
OGDEN –Panorama survived a furious Ogden scramble in the second half to claim a 45-35 WCC win and the outright league title Friday.
The Panthers started in speedy fashion by racing to a 16-2 lead after eight minutes. They held a 30-13 lead at the half, a wide enough span to avoid an Ogden surge of 14-3 that trimmed a 17-point deficit to just six, at 33-27, entering the final frame.
However, Panorama quickly returned to form, using a 12-8 edge in the fourth quarter to seal the victory.
Only three Panthers scored in the game, with Beckman hitting for 19 points, Powell 14 and Johnk 12, with Kemble absent from the contest. Beckman had five rebounds and three steals, Johnk four boards and four blocks and Powell four rebounds. Prince contributed four caroms and four thefts, with Wilderman making three steals and blocking one shot.
Ogden (8-12, 5-10) was led by Ashton Boggess’ nine points, with Kim Christensen adding eight points. Ellee Laws and Kyle Nichols had six points apiece, with Meredith Adreon tallying four points and Lillie Longhorn two. Laws had 10 boards, Christensen four caroms and three steals and Boggess four rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs.
The Panthers will host a Class 2A Region 4 Quarterfinal Feb. 14 as they await the winner of Saturday’s game between Eagle Grove and host Fort Dodge St. Edmond. Panora will be the host site for the R4 Semifinal Feb. 17, with Ogden, WCV and I-35 on the other half of the bracket. The R4 Final will be played Feb. 20 in Waukee. Both games in Panora and the R4 Final will tip at 7 p.m.
