The Saint Jo Panthers started off district with a close win against Midway at home on Tuesday.
The Panthers won 49-46 against a Falcons team who had broken into the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches state poll at 23 early this week.
From the beginning the game was physical and had many sequences of scoring chances in transition. Midway pressured ball handlers up and down the floor, but did not try to trap and force turnovers that way.
The Falcons tried to find ways to score around the basket, trying to exploit Saint Jo’s general lack of height in the matchup.
The Panthers came out of the first quarter with a slight lead 12-11 as Brice Durham scored eight points thanks to drives to the rim.
It was a similar story in the second quarter. Saint Jo kept that small lead and never relinquished it as Kile Thurman scored seven points to help lead the team.
The Panthers lead was small, 26-22, but Saint Jo felt good with how it had played.
The third quarter was made up of runs from both team.
After the Panthers started the quarter pulling ahead 29-22, Midway slowly came back, taking back the lead 32-29 a little more than midway through the quarter.
The Falcons took advantage of Saint Jo’s post players fishing for offensive rebounds and steals after securing the rebound, pushing the ball ahead and scoring in transition against the Panthers guards.
Saint Jo finished the quarter well though, scoring the final eight points of the quarter to take back the lead, thanks to several 3-point finishes at the rim.
The Panthers led 37-32 heading into the fourth quarter, but knew they would need to finish strong.
Midway made it a fight until the end. The Falcons cut the score to 45-44 with a little less than three minutes to play in the game. Saint Jo took a minute off the clock and scored a basket to go up 47-44 with a 1:20 left in the game.
After Midway did not score following a turnover from the Panthers, Saint Jo was trying to run clock as the Falcons started doubling anyone with the ball.
The Panthers gave the ball to Logan Brawner, who had spent most of the game competing for rebounds and doing his best to slow down Midway’s top scorer.
He took advantage scoring a layup to push Saint Jo’s lead to two scores 49-44 with 34 seconds left.
The Panthers had chances to put the game away with three trips to the free throw line, but came up empty. The Falcons scored a layup to make it a one-score game and had one final last second heave to tie the game.
Funnily enough, a Midway player attempted one beyond halfcourt a good beat after his coach had called a time out with one second left to set up the final shot and it went in. The real play was not as close as Saint Jo won 49-46.

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