The Saint Jo Panthers picked up playoff wins against Bryson and Ector on back-to-back days after more than a week of waiting due to winter storms.
The Panthers won big against the Cowboys 62-30 on Tuesday before exacting some revenge against the Eagles, winning 59-48 on Wednesday.
Saint Jo had to wait more than a week to see who it would play in the bi-district game as Perrin-Whitt and Bryson had a play-in game for the district title. With the Pirates winning, the Panthers played the Cowboys.
The team was confident heading into the game, beating Bryson earlier in the season before it had hit its stride.
Still, after more than a week off, Saint Jo came out rusty. After a rough first quarter, the team built up some momentum thanks to getting some transition baskets off of steals and good defensive rebounding.
Bryson was a bigger team across the board, but the Panthers execution and familiarity led to them pulling away as the game wore on. The second half saw Saint Jo play even better as the team pulled away to win by 32 points.
The area game against Ector was going to be a bigger challenge. The Eagles beat Saint Jo last year in the same round of the playoffs and were ranked among the top 25 teams in the state.
While both teams had drastically different teams from a year ago, enough people on both sides were familiar, including Ector perimeter player Kyrin Beach.
The Panthers came out on fire from 3-point range. While Stevens and Thurman each made one while scoring a few other ways, it was Brice Durham who could not miss. Durham made four 3-pointers in the first quarter alone, helping Saint Jo jump out to a 24-11 lead.
Ecor was trying to get the ball inside to athletic post player Franklyn Reed on offense. The Panthers had to send extra help while also worrying about Beach on the perimeter knocking in shots or driving to the basket.
The Eagles switched up their defense since Saint Jo’s ball movement was getting open looks against their man-to-man defense. Ector started trying a full-court trap style defense.
The Eagle’s tall and long defenders caused issues for Thurman and Stevens, but with Ector in a zone, when Saint Jo broke through the team found open shots on the perimeter.
Durham made two more 3-pointers to keep the Panthers in the lead, but the Eagles had the cut the lead to 32-24 heading into halftime.
With Ector keeping the game close, another 3-pointer from Durham in the opening minutes of the third quarter made the Eagles get out of its press and zone defense.
Stevens took advantage as he scored seven points during the quarter and Saint Jo was able to keep Ector at bay. The Panthers led 47-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Eagles changed back into the press to make sure Saint Jo could not just run the clock out.
The Panthers started drawing free throw attempts since they were in the bonus as Stevens and Cook made nine during the quarter to keep Saint Jo’s lead despite a strong push from Ector offensively.
In the final two minutes the Panthers were struck a blow. Thurman went down trying to score in transition, grabbing his leg in pain. He refused to leave the court and wanted to see the game finished.
His teammates came through for him, making three more free throws to secure the win 59-48.

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