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Brink Powers Panama Past Franklinville

We Meet Again

By Matt Spielman 4 min read

Her next loss will be Mandy Brink's final game in a Panama uniform.

The Panthers senior made sure it wasn't going to be Wednesday night.

Brink scored 26 points, handed out six assists, picked up five steals and grabbed four rebounds as No. 1 Panama beat No. 4 Franklinville 59-47 in a Section VI Class D semifinal Wednesday night at Jamestown Community College's Physical Education Complex.

"Once the regular season is over and we won the league, this is all topping right here," Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale said. "You want the season to go on."

Brink and three senior teammates -- Lilly Odell, Hannah Schauman and Mackenzie Greene -- will now have a chance to earn the fifth sectional title in program history at noon Saturday when the Panthers take on No. 3 Sherman in the Class D final back at JCC. The Wildcats beat No. 2 Ellicottville 29-17 in Wednesday evening's first semifinal.

"We have to go out and prove it. They aren't going to lay down and say: 'Here Panama, you can have it.' We have to go out and work for it. We have to play well," Hinsdale said of Saturday's rivalry matchup. "It's a dog fight every time. I don't care if you have the greatest team in the world against the worst team in the world, it's still a dog fight."

Brink made a pair of free throws midway through the first quarter to break a 7-7 tie, scored on Panama's next trip down the floor to make it 11-7 and then added another two free throws late in the period to give the top-seeded Panthers a 13-7 lead after eight minutes. Brink scored 10 of her team's 13 points.

Brink hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter before a 5-0 Panama run just before halftime made it a 17-point game at the break.

"I think Mandy doesn't really need to go out and prove herself any more. I think everybody already knows. She's a competitor. She doesn't like to lose. … She misses a shot, she's upset. She misses a defensive assignment, she's upset. If you have five of those, you're probably in Albany," Hinsdale said, referencing the girls state championships that are held in Troy every year.

Brink, Greene, junior Kylie Morgan and sophomore Kaitlyn Horton all got into the scoring column during a 16-point third quarter, and it looked like Panama would breeze to the finish line.

"I thought there were a lot of opportunities where we could've gotten it into our bigs. Our bigs are very unselfish and they like to share," Hinsdale said. "Everybody loves points, but from a coaching standpoint, those assists are unbelievable."

But Franklinville didn't go quietly in the fourth quarter.

A pair of Brink free throws made it a 25-point game early in the final period before Franklinville senior Megan Jackson caught fire. A pair of free throws, a 2-point bucket and a 3-point bucket -- all from Jackson -- made it a 20-point game. Freshman Mackenzie Chase then scored inside, junior Sofia Bentley added her fourth 3-pointer of the game and Jackson scored again to make it a 13-point game with 3:07 left.

Panama then pushed its lead back up to 17 before Jackson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, the second with 1:07 left to make it an 11-point game.

But it turned out to be too little, too late as Franklinville missed its final four shots and turned the ball over down the stretch.

"I don't think the Cattaraugus County teams see a lot of man (defense)," Hinsdale said of Franklinville's early struggles offensively. "Ellicottville had open shots, they just couldn't put the ball in the basket because Sherman's defense was strong enough to throw them off."

NOTES: Panama shot 21 of 57 (36.8%) from the field, including 2 of 19 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over just six times. Morgan had 14 points and four rebounds; Horton had 12 points, 10 rebounds and two steals; Schauman had six steals and three rebounds; and Greene had four steals for Panama. … Franklinville shot 18 of 58 (31%) from the field, including 7 of 27 (25.9%) from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 26 times. Bentley led Franklinville with 21 points and Jackson added 18.

FRANKLINVILLE (47)

Marchese 0 0 0, Jackson 6 3 18, Spittler 0 0 0, Chase 0 0 0, Bentley 8 1 21, Bowers 0 0 0, Courtney 0 0 0, Frank 1 0 2, MChase 3 0 6. Totals 18 4 47.

PANAMA (59)

Brink 8 8 26, Schauman 0 1 1, Greene 2 0 4, Morgan 6 2 14, Horton 4 4 12, Range 1 0 2, Markham 0 0 0, Odell 0 0 0. Totals 21 15 59.

3-point goals--Jackson 3, Bentley 4, Brink 2.

Franklinville 7 8 12 20 -- 47

Panama 13 19 16 11 -- 59

Starting at /week.