The Stryker Panthers and Fayette Eagles played a closely contested matchup Thursday evening. The Panthers would end up edging out Fayette and head coach Todd Mitchell 46-38.
Stryker would gain the lead in the first quarter of action, going up on the Eagles 14-10 after one period of action.
There would not be much scoring by either team in the second period, as the Panthers would only score nine, and the Eagles would only be able to put up five points. The Panthers would control a 23 –15 halftime lead.
Fayette was able to narrow the Panther lead down to only one possession by the end of the third quarter, as they would outscore Stryker 13-7 in the period, bring the Eagles within three, 31-28.
However, ten fouls in the second half by Fayette would give the Panthers multiple free throw opportunities, and Stryker would capitalize, hitting seven shots from the charity stripe in the second half, compare to only one made by Fayette in the same period of time. This would help to propel the Panthers to a win with a final score of 46-38.
Grant Schaffner, Chandler Sanford, and Tyler Cox all had eight points in the contest for the Eagles. Jerad Seiler scored five points, Skylar Lantz dropped four, Wade Burkholder contributed three, and Koby Biddix had two.
The Panthers were lead by Parker Ruffer who also lead all scorers with 14 points, Tanner Clingaman scored 12, Brannan Woolace banked 11, Dean Beamont finished the night with eight, and Brody Shock had one.
With Stryker moves to 2-1 (2-0 in BBC play) with the win, and the loss drops Fayette to 3-2 (1-1 in the BBC).
-Mitchell Peebles