PANORA — To no one’s surprise, third-ranked Panorama has played themselves back to the Class 2A District Finals. The Panthers (22-1) easily handled visiting Martensdale-St. Marys (18-6) by a 56-37 final Friday to advance to within one victory of a trip to the Wells Fargo Arena.
Awaiting the Panthers will be a familiar, and dangerous, foe, the Lions of Des Moines Christian (20-4). DMC was a 48-28 winner over Earlham Friday, setting the stage for a third meeting between the WCAC rivals. Panorama was a 58-20 winner in Panora Nov. 28, with the Lions keeping it much closer and falling only 50-41 in Urbandale Jan. 9.
Aside from a five-point win (50-45) over host IKM-Manning (now ranked 14th), the second win over DMC is the only game in which Panorama’s margin of victory has been by single digits. The Region 6 Final will be played Monday at Woodward, with the game to start at 7 p.m.
Friday’s contest started with the Panthers taking a 13-8 lead after one quarter, with the lead remaining five points, at 26-21, at the intermission. A 20-7 third quarter burst pushed the hosts into a 46-28 lead after a further eight minutes of action, setting the stage for the comfortable victory.
M-SM hit 7-of-15 3-pointers but were outscored, 14-2, at the free throw line. Panorama forced 20 steals (the guests had just three) and blocked 10 shots as the Panther defense proved decisive down the stretch.
Skylyr Stewart had 16 points to lead the visitors, with Kaitlyn Schad adding seven points. Jensen Archibald had six points, eight rebounds, and five assists, with Morgan Dunn scoring four points and clearing 10 boards while Maddy Stott tallied four points.
Bailey Beckman’s 18 points paced all scorers for Panorama. Devyn Kemble had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, with Faith Powell scoring 10 points, grabbing six boards and making three steals. Hope Wilderman had six points, six steals and five blocks, with Nicole Rolfes adding three points while Kellie Prince had two points and five thefts.
Morgan Johnk was held scoreless but aided the winning cause with three caroms, four assists, two steals and two blocks while Beckman contributed three thefts.
