In order to make that dream a reality, the Panthers will need to find a way to put points on the board against a Wolfpack team that prides itself on defense first.

“We hold teams to 40 points a game. That is the number I care about,” said OES coach Paul Brundage on Thursday evening.

He’s not embellishing.

In 13 of its 20 wins this season, OES has held its opponent to 40 points or less.

Dominic Spontaneo (3) celebrates the victory with assistant coach Chris Payne.

Brundage and company sit at 20-3 on the season after moving past Wells via a 57-40 final in regional play. In the previous two games, the Wolfpack relinquished 25 and 32 points against Germantown and North Warren Central respectively.

“There are a lot of unorthodox things that they do,” said Panama coach Ed Nelson after a team dinner on Thursday. “They play some pretty tough defense and defensively they switch quite a bit. They’ll run a 3-2 defense on one side a 1-2-2 on the other. They run a lot of junk defense, too. They like to find your hot shooter and run a triangle-and-two on them.”

The good news for the Panthers (18-6) is that, as of late, they have suffered from a wealth of offensive options. While junior Cameron Barmore has rightfully garnered the attention of opposing defenses late in the season due to his 20.8 points and 13.6 rebounds per game, they have also been able to rely on a broad base of offense from the likes of Dominic Spontaneo, Jack Sperry, Mitch Hovey and Gerrit Hinsdale.

“They won states in football so they know how to win,” Brundage said referencing Clymer/Sherman/Panama’s Class D title. “(Barmore) is obviously going to be a threat. They have Sperry who is hitting a lot of 3s.”

In addition to their defensive focus, the Wolfpack are also a group that places a premium on offensive rebounds, something that Panama also saw in Far West Regional action against Belfast.

“They really sell out on the ball, there are gaps open all over the place and they seem to leave the 3 ball open. If you want to shoot it, they will let you shoot it, but they do a good job on the boards, so you’ll just get one shot,” said Nelson. “You have to make sure kids want to rebound. We’ve got Cameron Barmore pulling down 15 or 16 a game, but then there are Dominic Spontaneo and Gerrit Hinsdale pulling down boards, too.”

Up top, OES runs its offense through the hands of senior point guard Jack Brundage, one of seven seniors for the Wolfpack. Brundage, Tyler Leon and Zach Mosher have enjoyed starting positions for the past three seasons while sophomore Travis LaFountain runs things in the paint.

When Panama was able to count on the outside shooting of Spontaneo in Sperry in its previous victory over Belfast, one of the keys to opening up those long-range looks was ball movement as well as the pressure drawn by Barmore.

Should the Wolfpack fall into the trap of keying too much on the talented junior, or leaving passing lanes open on the perimeter, Panama may find success on outside shots once more.

“I think so many teams key on Cameron Barmore that he opens up a lot of opportunities on the perimeter,” said Nelson. “Mitch Hovey, a lot of people don’t know how good of an outside shooter he is, but he is shooting 50 percent from 3-ball range on the year. He’s done a really good job of leading our team this year, and then you have Dominic Spontaneo on the the other side.”

Hovey had 10 assists in the Far West Regional, often choosing to complete an extra pass to Sperry or Spontaneo for a cleaner shot than his own opportunity.

Panama will leave Chautauqua County at around 10:30 this morning, following an exit ceremony and send off from the community. Nelson and assistant coach Chris Payne, who is also the school’s athletic director, have been able to schedule a practice session at a community center in Binghamton for later this evening, so the Panthers will get one last chance to run through their game plan before Saturday.