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Panama Girls Move On To Final Four

By Matt Spielman 5 min read

BUFFALO -- As a freshman, Mandy Brink had her dream of playing for a state championship taken away when the coronavirus pandemic put an end to the postseason days before Panama was supposed to play in a Far West Regional.

Three years later, in the twilight of her high school career, Brink has booked that trip to Troy.

The Panthers senior captain scored 28 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, picked up four steals and handed out four assists as Panama beat Keshequa 63-44 in the Class D Far West Regional on Saturday afternoon at the Buffalo State College Sports Arena.

"I could not let that season go because it was just so devastating," Brink said postgame. "Being a senior, leading my team and being a captain, it feels so good. I'm so glad that we all get this opportunity."

Next up for the Section VI champions is a trip to suburban Albany for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four next weekend at Hudson Valley Community College. At the McDonough Sports Complex, the Panthers will take on Section X champion Hammond at 9 a.m. next Saturday. The second state semifinal will feature Section II Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons and Section IV Oxford Academy.

"We deserve to be there. The effort, the work and the heart that they put into this game, they deserve to be at the final four," said Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale, who won a state title as Clymer's coach in 2010. "We'll go up there … we're going to have fun … but it's a business trip."

Panama went ahead early Saturday and never looked back.

The Panthers led 5-0 early and Brink's corner 3-pointer with 1:20 to go in the first quarter made it 19-7 before the period ended with Panama holding a commanding 21-9 lead.

From there, the Indians upped their physicality. Brink and Lilly Odell made all six of their free-throw attempts in the second quarter, while Brink, MacKenzie Greene and Kylie Morgan added field goals as the Panthers led 33-16 at halftime.

"They are a scrappy team," Brink said. "Physically, it was a battle."

Brink's parade to the foul line was just beginning. Over the final two quarters, Section VI's fourth-leading scorer went to the charity stripe 18 times, knocking down 10, while adding just one field goal.

Attempting to change the flow of the game with a full-court press, Keshequa was guilty of 28 fouls in the game. The Indians' Anna Linde and Riley Nageldinger both fouled out, while Braelyn Isaman, Ava Thayer, Libby Benner and Julia Wilkins were all whistled for four fouls apiece.

"Maybe they don't call fouls in Section V," Hinsdale joked. "I think at the start of the game they were playing pretty decent defense. I think our defense frustrated them early on, and I think they probably got to pushing a little too had on the defensive end. I thought they were really physical."

It didn't matter in the end.

Twice in the third quarter, Keshequa cut its deficit to 12, and a putback from Wilkins on the Indians' first possession of the fourth quarter made it an 11-point game, but Brink answered with a basket at the other end of the floor before Horton scored on back-to-back trips -- the second one a three-point play -- as Panama's lead grew to 18 with 5:25 to play.

Horton was the beneficiary of Brink and her teammates looking long several times to break the press in the fourth quarter as she scored 11 of her 14 points in the final eight minutes.

"When I was dribbling, I knew their hands were going to be poking in," Brink said. "I had to look up … and caught Kaitlyn a couple of times down by their bucket."

Now the Panthers will head to the eastern part of the state for the first time since going three straight years from 2015 to 2017. All three times, they were denied the program's first state title by Section X champion Heuvelton.

"Playing Sherman, Clymer, Westfield, Jamestown, Southwestern, Randolph … it's all coming home to roost now," Hinsdale said.

"I don't even know what to say. This is such a cool experience," Brink added. "As a team, we've been waiting for this for so long. It's finally happening. We're going to states."

NOTES: Panama shot 19 of 45 (42.4%) from the field, including 2 of 11 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 20 times. Morgan had 7 points and a team-high 15 rebounds; Hannah Schauman grabbed five rebounds; Horton had five rebounds; and Odell had five rebounds for the Panthers. … Keshequa shot 18 of 70 (25.7%) from the field, including 2 of 35 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 11 times. Libby Benner had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four assists; Wilkins had 12 points; and Braelyn Isaman had 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists for the Indians.

KESHEQUA (44)

Isaman 5 0 11, Thayer 3 0 6, Davis 1 0 2, RBenner 0 1 1, Linde 0 0 0, Nageldinger 0 0 0, LBrenner 4 4 12, Wilkins 5 1 12, BBenner 0 0 0, Hugi 0 0 0, Wood 0 0 0. Totals 18 6 44.

PANAMA (63)

Brink 6 15 28, Schauman 0 0 0, Greene 2 2 6, Morgan 3 1 7, Horton 6 2 14, Range 0 0 0, Markham 0 0 0, Odell 2 3 8. Totals 19 23 63.

3-point goals--Isaman, Wilkins, Brink, Odell.

Keshequa 9 7 16 12 -- 44

Panama 21 12 12 18 -- 63

Starting at /week.