The Panama Panthers will pos for Far West Regional Plaque after beating Fillmore at Rush Henrietta High School on Saturday. PJ Photo by Matt Spielman
Henrietta – Two years ago, Panama was blown away by the eventual state champion Avoca Plattsburgh at Rush Henrietta High School’s Class D Far West Regional.
So manager Ed Nelson felt a sense of deja vu when the Panthers fell 12-3 back to suburban Rochester against Fillmore early in the state quarterfinals on Saturday.
That feeling disappeared immediately.
Bryce Hinsdale scored 23 points in the first half, including six three-pointers, and Panama beat the Eagles 86-69 to advance to the New York State High School Athletic Association Finals at Binghamton, finishing with nine assists and three assists.
“It was like retrieving some ghosts against Avoca Plattsburgh, and when we played them it started exactly the same way,” Nelson said. “Brice Hinsdale stepped up and played like a grown man tonight.”
The first half was played at a passionate pace, with teams combining 91 points, including 18 3-pointers.
“They weren’t missing, we were missing,” Panthers senior Tate Catanese said. “It was more fun than anything, just watching good basketball from both teams.”
Fillmore led 25-23 after the first quarter, with five lead changes and four ties in between. In fact, the Eagles opened the game 12-3 after Jameson Lett, Campbell Manler and Jonah Bierek hit three pointers on three of their first four possessions.
“We came here as sophomores and were blown away by Avoca-Prattsburgh. We weren’t going to make it happen again,” Hinsdale said. ”…When we face adversity, we will do our best to overcome it. ”
However, Hinsdale kept Panama in the game. The left-handed Sharpshooter had three three-pointers in the opening eighth minute, adding another 14 points in the second quarter.
“It was probably the best first half of basketball I’ve ever played. It wouldn’t have come at a better time. They were making shots, so they had to make shots,” Hinsdale said. “I just took an open shot and they fell.”
Hinsdale’s third triple in the second quarter gave the Panthers a 42-40 lead, and after a Fillmore free throw, Panama’s senior Carter Brink knocked down a three-pointer to make it 45-41 with 36 seconds left. Hinsdale finished the halfs in 22nd and 23rd, giving Section VI Champions a 47-44 lead on the break.
“He works hard every day in practice. He is mentally prepared and physically prepared,” Katanese said of Hinsdale. “We knew that some kind of game like this would happen today.”
“We call him (Blythe) Pitbull because he’s always going to the best players on other teams. We’re thrust him into Jonah (Biarek) and he’s chasing him off the screen,” Nelson added. “He puts so much energy on the defensive side. Honestly, it takes him his belongings at the edge of the offense. He balls out both ends tonight.”
Brink, the Panthers’ main scorer who struggled to finish internally in the first half, scored 10 of his 24 points in the third quarter.
“We were pushing things a bit and we felt early on that we didn’t set up our offensive set,” Nelson said. ”…Part of being a great point guard is knowing about intervals and timing. …If he was trying to do that today, Carter had to step up. ”
Senior Alex Barmore finished his three-point play and spent the period 60-53 at 3:07, with Brink scoring the team’s final six points, maintaining a seven-point advantage in the fourth quarter.
“Our conditioning is second to none. We’re just continuing to grind,” Nelson said. ”…I love it when the judge continues running sweating and says, “Oh, I made some money from this.” ”
Averaging only 5.1 points per game entered on Saturday, Catanese sealed the deal in the fourth quarter with Panama 8 points and clinched the third Final Four appearance in program history.
“Tate is incredible,” Hinsdale said. “He’s right where you need him.”
Fillmore tried nine of his 14 3-point attempts in the first half, but hit one of the 14ths in the final 16 minutes.
“We knew they didn’t sub often, so we were out and running and trying to tire them out. In the first half you saw them filming and not missed,” Hinsdale said. “As we were running we were trying to wear them down.”
Panama will win Sunday’s quarterfinal winners between Sackett Port in Section III and Morris in Section IV at 11:45am on Friday at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena.
“We’re all locked up, focused and collaborated,” Katanese said. “This means so much.”
The Panthers will also be on their trip to Binghamton next weekend, including their final Saturday at 6pm, to become the final career game for eight seniors and their head coach.
“I was so excited and nervous today. From a coaching perspective, you try to go 1-0 every day. Our goal was to chase Fillmore today,” Nelson said. ”… Honestly, I wasn’t past Fillmore. ”
Note: Catanese had 18 points and nine rebounds. Barmore had 10 points, 11 rebounds and two blocking shots. Brink assisted Panama five times. Panama shot 33 of the 61 from the field. This included nine out of 21 from the 3-point range, and only over seven balls. …Mucher finished with 26 points, Jonah Bialek had 17 and Rhett had 12 at Fillmore. Fillmore shot 25 of the 54 from the field. …Isaiah Sisson, the son of former Cassadaga Valley Central School, is Carl’s outstanding Carl and nephew of JCC athletic director George Sisson, who scored seven points at Fillmore.
Panama (86)
Barmore 4 2 10, Hinsdale 8 3 25, Mescall 1 1 4, Eggleston 0 0 0, Horton 0 0, Brink 9 4 24, Spiesman 1 1 3, Catanese 9 0 18, Burkholder 1 0 2, Rhoades 0 0 0. totals 33 11 86.
Fillmore (69)
lmccumiskey 0 0, cmccumiskey 0 0, Jorbialek 1 0 3, Sanasith 0 0, Sisson 3 1 7, Jonbialek 5 5 17, Voss 1 0 2, Knapp 0 0, Nusbickel 0 0 0, Rhett 4 0 12, Mucher 10 3 26, Jdbialek 1 0
3-point targets: Hinsdale 6, Mescall, Brink 2, Jorbialek, Jonbialek 2, Rhett 4, Mucher 3.
Panama23 24 19 20 – 86
Fillmore 25 19 15 10 – 69
