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Panama Advances

Knocks Off Sherman In Coach Swanson’s Finale

Panama’s Nicole Johnson, middle, puts up a shot while being closely guarded by Sherman’s Hannah Murdock (32) and Carrie Sands during Thursday’s Section VI Class D quarterfinal basketball game. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

PANAMA — Between congratulatory hugs and handshakes following Thursday night’s Section VI Class D girls quarterfinal playoff loss, Sherman coach Mel Swanson sat and shared a quiet moment on the bench with one of his grandsons.

While Panama hopes its 60-44 victory over the Wildcats marks the beginning of a third straight run to the state Final Four, the loss marked the end of a 39-year coaching career for Swanson.

“I don’t know what to say,” Swanson said before a long pause. “It’s just emotional. … I may coach some fourth and fifth grade at the YMCA so it’s not all gone, but it’s a pretty emotional time. It’s hard to greet these people, because I can’t thank them enough.”

Swanson — who coached more than 1,500 games when his boys record is included — finishes with 607 girls basketball wins, placing him third in New York state history behind Charlotte-Valley’s Ray Preston, who began this season with 631 wins, and Red Hook’s John Kuhn, who retired with 619 victories.

“That man has been a mentor to me. … He’s a legend,” Panama coach Jeff Angeletti said of Swanson. “The guy’s forgotten more stuff than I’ll ever know. … I’m honored and blessed to be a part of it all.”

Sherman’s Danielle Aldrich puts up a runner during Thursday’s Section VI Class D quarterfinal basketball game at Panama. P-J photo by Scott Reagle

Panama was a fitting host for Swanson’s final game as the 62-year-old Sherman bench boss graduated from the southern Chautauqua County school in 1972 and did his student-teaching there before landing a job in neighboring Sherman, where he went on to win nine Section VI titles.

“I really would’ve liked to have been the No. 4 or No. 5 seed to draw Clymer or Pine Valley,” Swanson joked when asked if it was a fitting site for his final game. “You have to face a good team at some point. There are three pretty solid teams and then Clymer, Pine Valley and us are a lot alike.”

While the community and fans were more-than-gracious hosts to Swanson’s final game, the third-seeded Panthers did him no favors on the court, leading 11-1 after the first quarter and not allowing a field goal until freshman Carrie Sands hit a 3-pointer with 6:57 left in the second quarter for No. 6 Sherman.

Sands hit another 3-pointer later in the quarter and junior Hannah Murdock converted a three-point play with 36.5 seconds left in the half as the Wildcats cut the deficit to under 10, but junior Lauren Barmore’s bucket pushed the Panthers’ lead back up to 11 before halftime.

A 5-0 run to start the third quarter pulled Sherman within six before freshman Natalie Angeletti scored on back-to-back trips for the Panthers.

“They made a concerted effort to take away Madalyn (Bowen) and Nat, which they did a great job for a couple quarters,” Coach Angeletti said. “In the third quarter they started to exert themselves a little bit. I know Natalie was a little bit frustrated at times … but they started finding her and she was moving a little better, too.”

Panama remained comfortably ahead for most of the third quarter and put an exclamation mark on the period when freshman Maci Johnson threw a three-quarter-court inbounds pass to Bowen with one second left and the Panama sophomore hit a turnaround 3-pointer at the buzzer to push the lead back up to 13.

“We have a name for that and we called it. We didn’t expect Maci Johnson, who we just called up, to be throwing the ball in,” Coach Angeletti said. “She’s got a good arm, then Madalyn drills it. That was a big shot.”

The Wildcats started to get hot from the 3-point line, hitting four in the fourth quarter alone, but it was too little too late. Johnson scored eight straight Panthers’ points in the final period.

“We knew we would have some trouble with their size around the basket,” Swanson said. “We made some 3s to cut it under 10. … Obviously they made some stops.”

Panama how has a week to get ready for No. 2 Ellicottville, which received a bye into the semifinals at Jamestown Community College. The other semifinal will pit No. 5 Clymer, a 64-59 overtime winner over No. 4 Pine Valley on Thursday night, against No. 1 Franklinville, which also received a bye into the semifinals.

Angeletti led Panama with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Barmore added 13 points and five rebounds.

Sands and junior Zoey Charrette each had 12 points for Sherman (11-10).

“They competed to the best of their ability. They play hard,” Swanson said about his final squad at Sherman. “Sometimes you look at the games you shouldn’t have lost and of our 10 there are maybe two we shouldn’t have lost. We competed, we just weren’t quite strong enough.”

NOTES: Senior Nicole Johnson grabbed five rebounds while senior Tara Sweeney and Maci Johnson each had three assists for Panama, which shot 26 of 72 from the field. … Murdock grabbed 10 rebounds; senior Danielle Aldrich had nine rebounds and four assists; and Sands had seven rebounds for Sherman, which shot 9 of 28 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 19 times.

SHERMAN (44)

Charrette 4 1 12, Aldrich 2 0 6, Phelps 0 0 0, Cole 1 0 2, Pacy 0 0 0, Whitman 0 0 0, Sands 4 0 12, Cady 0 2 2, Christmas 1 0 2, Murdock 3 2 8. Totals 15 5 44.

PANAMA (60)

Sweeney 4 0 8, Lisciandro 0 0 0, Barmore 6 1 13, Fransen 0 0 0, Yuchnitz 1 1 3, NAngeletti 6 3 15, EAngeletti 1 0 2, Schnars 0 0 0, MJohnson 4 0 8, Bowen 2 0 5, NJohnson 2 2 6, Marsh 0 0 0. Totals 26 7 60.

3-point goals — Charrette 3, Aldrich 2, Sands 4, Bowen.

Sherman 1 12 13 18 — 44

Panama 11 13 15 21 — 60

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