PANORA — The eighth-ranked Panorama girls had little trouble with Earlham Friday, with the Panther boys evening their record at 8-8 overall by pulling away late to ground the Cardinals.
The Panther girls improved to 15-1 overall and 11-1 in WCAC play with a 52-34 triumph, with the Cardinals falling to 11-7 and 6-5 with the loss. The 72-61 win in the boys game moved Panorama to 8-8 and 6-7 while Earlham dropped to 11-5 and 8-4.
Panorama’s defense bothered Earlham in the opener, with the hosts recording 15 steals in the victory. The hosts opened a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play and held a 27-17 advantage at the half. A 12-7 scoring edge in the next eight minutes of play widened the gap to 15 points, at 39-24, and the Panthers waltzed from there.
Earlham had no answer for second team all-stater Bailey Beckman, as the Panther senior went off for 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting while making seven thefts.
Morgan Johnk had eight points and six rebounds and Payton Beckman five points, with Brooke Halterman providing four points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. Lydia Knapp added four points as well, with Anna Holloway and Ella Waddle each scoring two points.
Rachel Smith’s 10 points led the guests, with Alli Boyle recording eight points and four assists. Lizzie Arnburg had seven points and 10 caroms, Kaylee Hohertz five points and Katie Noah four points and five boards.
The Panther boys overcame a second-half charge from the Cardinals with perhaps their sharpest fourth quarter of the season to post the conference win.
The hosts led, 19-13, after one quarter and owned a 31-25 halftime lead. Earlham fought their way back into the game in the third period, using an 18-13 edge on the scoreboard to close to within a point, down 44-43, as the fourth quarter began.
A 28-18 final eight minutes helped the home team pull away for the victory. Sharpshooting from the foul line aided the win, with the Panthers drilling 32-of-37 (86 percent) for the game after entering the contest shooting shooting just at 66 percent as a team.
Malachi Peasley was 12-of-12 at the line, Kolby Shackelford 8-of-8 and Gracen Welberg 7-of-9 help turn aside the Cardinals. Shackelford finished with 22 points, Welberg with 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks with Peasley scoring 15 points and distributing four assists.
Zach Rizzuti had eight points and three steals, Alias Stahl three points, Drew Taylor two and Lucas Leiferman and Evan Taylor one each.
Panorama steps out of conference to host Greene County for a twin bill Monday before visiting Ogden Tuesday and Interstate-35 Friday.
