As the clock runs down The Panthers suffer a devastating home opening loss 66-72 to the Fort Bend Tigers -what a way to open off the season, Is Cy Springs just talk? How will the Panthers overcome this harsh loss? These were the questions everybody was asking after this loss.
Mitchell Badillo, assistant coach of the Panthers and expressed his emotions and frustrations, “One game doesn’t prove anything, a little setback for a major comeback.” The next game the Panthers were showing no remorse as they wiped the competition. Panthers win by 30! Panthers win! The Panthers started to roll getting on a hot streak winning any and every game.
Stoney Hadnot, the leading scorer of the team he said that the wins feel good, but the team wants to make that run in San Antonio and end the season with an even bigger win.
With the way they are playing it seems like they might achieve even more than that, as the Panthers travel to Beaumont to battle the tough competition we wait to see how the Panthers will overcome these other teams. 95- 28 against LaGrange, 57- 52 against Manvel, the Panthers stomping teams left and right, with Landon Veal and Hadnot averaging 18 points a game. Royal Mayfield and Shawn Love following right behind them with 10 points to add to the offensive attack. Coach Boykin expressed his thoughts after these games saying how great it was to see them play at such a high level and how far they came. The Panthers are not only impressing their coaches but people across the State are taking notice as well.
Ethan Piechota, a scout expressed his own thoughts on social media “Cy Springs is looking like a Top10 program in the state.”
With their last game of the tournament the Panthers face off with the number one team in the state Beaumont United, the game was full of crazy shots and nail-biting moments, as the clocks nears the end, the Panthers are down 3 points with 3 seconds left, point guard Josh Robinson throws a deep pass to Stoney Hadnot for a deep three but it comes up short.
What a chilling loss for the Panthers, though the Panthers fell short of victory they were recognized as a top team and awarded for their efforts. Hadnot, Mayfield, Veal, and Love were named to the “YMBL All Tournament” team. Luckily that just the beginning of a successful run with a record of 16-4 and multiple games still left we continue to watch this team overcome all adversity and bring home big wins so don’t be quick to finish a story that is still being written.
