PANORA — A frantic rally in the final few minutes helped the Panorama boys close to within four points of visiting Earlham after having trailed by 14 points in the third quarter, but the surge was not enough as the Cardinals held on for a 52-48 West Central Conference win Tuesday.
Earlham had a 17-14 first quarter lead and a 29-23 halftime edge before widening their edge to 42-28 late in the third quarter. The guests appeared to have control of the game with a 47-37 lead with five minutes remaining, but the Panthers had other ideas and slowly clawed back into contention.
The Cardinals were held to just two points in a four-minute span that saw the hosts drain a pair of key 3-pointers to close to within 49-45 with 60 seconds on the clock. Unfortunately a final trey from the home team was not enough as Earlham escaped with the victory.
Bryce Halterman buried four triples as part of his game-high 21 points for Panorama, with Gracen Welberg hitting a trey en route to 12 points. Nine points from Jeramy Randol and two each from Will Babcock, Trey Cobb and Luke South completed the Panther scoring.
Trent Williamson had 18 points for Earlham, with both Jason Hopp and Parker Kliegl providing 11 points.
Panorama hosts AC/GC Friday in a girls/boy WCC set. The girls game will be played first, beginning at 6 p.m.
It’s Gracen Welberg
Sorry Gracen! It has been corrected. That is what I get for trying to type up a story at 2 a.m.! Thanks for reading us, and see you Friday!