One game into 2022, the Cardinals are winless.

Three Panama girls reached double figures and the Panthers went 6 of 8 from the field in the fourth quarter to put away a 58-49 nonleague victory over Randolph on Tuesday night.

“They showed me a lot of resiliency,” Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale said of his team. “It comes down to heart, attitude and believing in yourself. I thought that was probably the biggest thing they showed me because we’ve struggled with that so far this year.”

Mandy Brink once again led Panama with 22 points, but Maddie Lisciandro added 13 points and Kylie Morgan chipped in 11 for the Panthers.

Randolph’s Kyra Pence attempts to steal the ball from Panama’s Mandy Brink while the Cardinals’ Payton Morrison (12) looks on during Tuesday’s nonleague girls basketball game in Randolph. Photo by Mike Frame

“You can’t win a league, you can’t win a sectional, you can’t win a Far West Regional, you can’t win states with just one girl,” Hinsdale said. “You have to have five.”

Randolph’s Payton Morrison led all scorers with 29 points and Kyra Pence added 13 for the Cardinals, who went undefeated and won the 2021 Section VI Class C championship before starting this season 4-0. Randolph’s last game of 2021 was a 46-44 victory over Portville in the Joe DeCerbo Memorial Tournament at Allegany-Limestone Central School.

“We had a big break. The schedule definitely wasn’t in our favor,” Randolph head coach David Pihlblad said. ” … I think we had 16 days off from our last game and that definitely showed tonight.”

Brink gave Panama a 10-9 lead late in the first quarter and added another field goal along with a free throw before Pence closed the period with a bucket as the Panthers led 13-11 after eight minutes.

They would never trail again.

Randolph’s Payton Morrison (12) tries to turn the corner and get by Panama’s Kylie Morgan (15) during Tuesday’s nonleague girls basketball game in Randolph. Photo by Mike Frame

An 11-5 second quarter included back-to-back-to-back possessions for Panama that included Brink finding Morgan, Lisciandro finding Lilly Odell and Morgan passing to Kaitlyn Horton for baskets as the Panthers took a 24-16 lead into halftime.

“We’ve really been working on that a lot with Kylie and Kaitlyn Horton both,” Hinsdale said. “Mandy is going to dribble-penetrate. There are opportunities there if she can pull the defender off.”

Randolph closed the gap to as little as one early in the third quarter on a Morrison and-one layup, but missed a chance to take the lead with a missed 3-pointer on its ensuing possession.

The Panthers eventually went on a 10-0 run that included Lisciandro’s second of four 3-pointers on the night and a technical foul shot after the Cardinals took the floor with six players out of a timeout.

“I don’t think we played with enough urgency early in the game. Once we got down, I thought the girls started playing hard,” Pihlblad said. “We got it to a couple and I think we just got tired and lost our legs. They went on a nice little run to get it back up to 8 or 10.”

Panama opened the fourth quarter with a five-point lead and the Cardinals cut it to three on a Pence 3-pointer with 5:29 remaining, but Lisciandro answered with her first of two fourth-quarter 3-pointers and Odell found an open Horton for a bucket to push the margin back up to eight.

Randolph never got closer than four the rest of the way.

“Girls hit some shots — girls that maybe didn’t hit shots this season,” Pihlblad said. “We watched them on film and I didn’t think they were great shooters, but they proved us wrong tonight, stepped up and hit some big shots.”

Panama will now be off for a week while it awaits Chautauqua Lake in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West opener for both teams. The Panthers will hopefully be back at full strength for that game as junior Jo Bailey returns from a long-term injury.

“We have a lot of things we have to work on,” Hinsdale said. “I get my big girl back. If we get her back in there, I think that’s going to make a big improvement for us. It’s going to make us deeper too.”

Randolph, on the other hand, will get right back at it tonight when it travels to Westfield for a nonleague game. The Cardinals will then host Nichols on Friday before opening CCAA Division 1 West play next Tuesday against Fredonia.

“We can’t just put our heads down. … I’m excited to see what we have tomorrow,” Pihlblad said. “It’s kind of uncharted territory for this group. We haven’t lost games so let’s see how we respond.”

NOTES: Brink had seven rebounds, six assists and four steals; Lisciandro had five rebounds, four assists and three steals; and Odell had five rebounds for Panama. … Kyra Pence had 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals while Morrison had four steals for Randolph. … Randolph beat Panama 34-25 in the jayvee game. Gianna Bowles led the Cardinals with 14 points and Kasey Markham had 15 for the Panthers.

PANAMA (58)

Brink 7 8 22, Schauman 0 0 0, Range 0 0 0, Greene 0 0 0, Morgan 3 5 11, Horton 3 0 6, Lisciandro 4 1 13, Odell 2 1 6. Totals 19 15 58.

RANDOLPH (49)

KPence 5 2 13, QPence 0 1 1, Herington 0 0 0, Morrison 10 6 29, Storer 1 0 2, Abrams 0 0 0, Bunker 2 0 4, Dickerson 0 0 0. Totals 18 9 49.

3-point goals–Lisciandro 4, Odell, KPence, Morrison 3.

Panama 13 11 16 18 — 58

Randolph 11 5 19 14 — 49

Jayvees: Randolph won 34-25.