The Panthers could sweep rival Sherman in the regular-season series, clinch the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West title, and do it all on Senior Night.

Saying the Panthers rose to the occasion would be an understatement as they dominated Sherman for a 56-34 victory to clinch another league title.

“Every game is important to us and every win is important to us,” Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale said. “We’re sitting at the top of the league, we know everyone is going to give us the best that they’ve got. We have to play up and for the last six or seven games we have been.”

It took the Panama (14-4, 10-0) offense a full quarter to really get going, but what was firing on all cylinders the entire game was its defense. The Panthers created enough pressure to not only force bad shots, but left little to no room for the visiting Wildcats to take shots.

Sherman's Hayden Fisher lines up a shot as Panama's Kaitlyn Horton defends in Tuesday’s CCAA Division 2 West game in Panama. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“They’ve got some great shooters,” Hinsdale said about defending the Sherman offense. “We know they have shooters, we had to know where they were. We know that Hayden (Fisher) likes to dribble penetrate, we see it every day in practice with Mandy (Brink). She dribble penetrates and creates open shots for her teammates and Hayden can do the same thing … we have to do the same thing. Fortunately, we have Mandy in practice so we get a lot of practice at it.”

The Panthers offense thrived off of the turnovers the defense created and ran away with the lead, primarily through the prowess of Brink. As she has done all year long, Brink stepped up to show she is one of the best players in the area scoring 30 points, dishing seven assists, grabbing six steals and hauling in three rebounds.

Brink received plenty of help on the night with Kaitlyn Horton scoring 9 points and grabbing 10 rebounds; Lilly Odell scored 11 points, had three assists, two boards and two steals; Kylie Morgan had six rebounds and two steals; Hannah Schauman added three steals and a block.

The Sherman (13-5, 9-2) offense could not match up against the Panama starters all night and it was most prevalent in the second quarter with the Panthers outscoring the Wildcats 17-2.

Things took a turn for the worse at the end of the first half when a fan in Sherman bleachers became unresponsive and needed medical assistance. Emergency medical technicians in attendance acted swiftly in a scary scene for everyone.

“We’re a tight-knit community and when something happens to one of us we all feel for them and the family,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl said. “The girls were just worried and it kind of put it in perspective that this is just a game. We’re here because we love each other, we love the game and the community rallies around us, so let’s just be there for each other and take tonight for what it’s worth.”

The fan was responsive as they left the game in the ambulance. After an extended halftime, both teams continued on with the game, but the energy was much different.

“It’s just unfortunate,” stated Hinsdale. “The first thing we did when we went back in the locker room was pray. That’s the kind of team I’ve got, they were concerned. They were willing to postpone the game if need be, fortunately we got a good report on her medically from what I heard and once the initial shock settled down everyone kind of realized stuff like that happens every day.”

Despite the scary scene at the end of the first half, both teams continued to play. The energy was much lower on both sides, but the buckets continued to fall for the Panthers as their lead reached 30 points.

Sherman’s best quarter came in the fourth as it continued to fight until the very end. Hayden Fisher led the Wildcats with 12 points, seven rebounds and two steals; Tayden Persons had five rebounds; and both Paige and Teagan Gratto had four rebounds.

SHERMAN (34)

Persons 2 0 4, PGratto 3 0 7, Wagner 1 0 2, TGratto 1 1 3, Swan 3 0 6, Martin 0 0 0, Bates 0 0 0, Fisher 4 4 12, Safford 0 0 0. Totals 14 5 34.

PANAMA (56)

Brink 12 3 30, Schauman 0 0 0, Green 0 0 0, Morgan 2 0 4, Horton 4 1 9, Range 0 0 0, Markham 1 0 2, Odell 3 2 11. Totals 22 6 56.

3-point goals–PGratto, Brink 3, Odell 3.

Sherman 4 2 8 20 — 34

Panama 7 17 23 9 — 56