Saint Jo routs Bryson

BRYSON – You can blame officiating. You can blame poor defense.

Sooner or later, any sport depends on did you outscore the other team? While things can happen to affect that in the shortterm, the players on the court dictate what happens in the final analysis.

In Feb. 23’s bi-district showdown between visiting Saint Jo and the host Cowboys, the Panthers led from start to finish, using almost too aggressive defense to key a second quarter pull away and post a 62-30 win.

Saint Jo goes to 18-7 with Bryson ending its campaign at 11-12.

Cowboy Coach Slade Egan kept his comments simple on what his team ended up on the wrong end of the stick.

“Yeah, it was tough but we just couldn’t get the ball through the hoop when we needed it the most,” Egan said in a text. “What wedded defensively worked great but we couldn’t score to save our lives.”

Bryson was 12-56, or 21 percent, shooting from the field. Saint Jo had shooting issues of its own to start (3-13) and finish (4-15) but used a middle quarter onslaught of 16-24 from the field to pull away.

Saint Jo hit the boards hard early, holding Bryson to just two shots in the first four minutes. Ethan Smith’s bucket with 3:21 to go were the first points before Landon Stephens’ three-pointer tied the game at five with 1:04 remaining.

Saint Jo would take the lead with a pair of buckets in the waning seconds for a 9-5 cushion after one.

Panther defenders focused on senior Zander Tinney, as he did not have a bucket until four ticks remained in the half. Taking the squad’s leading scorer out of the mix had its effects. as the visitors led by as many as 15 in the second, courtesy of a 12-2 run mid-quarter.

Tinney’s bucket cut the halftime lead to 29-16. Bryson had one last gasp in the first two minutes of the second half.

With Tinney’s buckets at the end of a 6-0 run, Drake Huffman having the other, Bryson got within seven. Once again a Saint Jo string, this one 14-0, would put things away. Tinney’s bucket would end the run but the Panthers would lead by as many as 25 but lead 49-28 after three frames.

Bryson was hit harder as Stephens, the Cowboys’ leading scorer in the game to this point, fouled out with 5:35 left.

Bryson would close shooting 1-14, Tinney having the lone bucket. Tinney had 10 points, Smith nine and Stephens eight. Sophomore Kile Thurman paced three Panthers in double figures with 20 points.