The Saint Jo Panthers hosted Prairie Valley on Tuesday in a game that went to the wire down the stretch.
The Panthers held off a valiant Bulldog comeback in the fourth quarter as Prairie Valley missed a shot at the buzzer to win their third district game 57-54.
The first quarter started off a little slow for both team with Saint Jo up only 9-7 midway through the quarter. Both teams picked up the pace to finish the quarter in a flurry with the Panthers making four 3-pointers and leading 24-16.
The hot shooting from Saint Jo cooled off, but so too did Prairie Valley’s as the perimeter oriented team failed to make a 3-pointer in the second quarter. The Panthers were dealt a blow early in the quarter when senior starter Brock Durham left the game with an injury. Still, Saint Jo led 32-22 as the Bulldogs failed to make up much ground.
The third quarter saw a little more production as Prairie Valley made a couple 3-pointers. The Panthers scored enough to keep the Bulldogs at a distance 43-34 heading into the fourth quarter, but Prairie Valley knew it was still within range if it had a big fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs immediately made two 3-pointers within the first minute of the final quarter to cut the lead to 45-40. From there, the teams seemed to go back and forth trading 3-pointers as Saint Jo answered almost every time Prairie Valley got within one.
With 1:36 left the Bulldogs Nicholas Bell nailed his third 3-pointer of the quarter to cut the lead to one score 57-54.
The Panthers ran the clock down to 40 seconds before calling a time out. Out of the time out, Prairie Valley drew a charge to gain possession of the ball with 34 seconds left. The charge was also Saint Jo senior Connor Thompson’s fifth foul, fouling him out of the game.
The Bulldogs attempted a 3-pointer to tie the game, but it missed. The Panthers got the rebound and were sent to the free throw line with 16 seconds left. The player missed and Prairie Valley got another chance to tie.
The 3-point attempt missed and Saint Jo again got sent to the line after rebounding the ball. Another free throw miss for the Panthers allowed the Bulldogs one final shot to tie the game up with only a few seconds left. The deep 3-pointer bounced off the rim at the buzzer as Saint Jo held on to win 57-54.
The win for the Panthers kept them undefeated in district play. Logan Morman led the team with 24 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter to help stave off Prairie Valley’s comeback. Thompson and Brice Durham each scored nine points.
For the Bulldogs, Bell led the team with 18 points, scoring nine in the fourth quarter to help spark the comeback. Post player Sergion Mancilla came off the bench to score nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter as well. Tyler Reid also finished in double-digits with 13 points.
The Panthers next host Midway at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21. Prairie Valley next hosts Slidell at 7 p.m. on Jan. 24.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.