COLUMBUS — A pair of wins for the St. Mary’s-Colgan basketball teams on Friday kick started the new year for the Panthers, as the girls’ team won 56-39 and the boys closed out the sweep with a 66-38 victory in game two.
COLGAN GIRLS CATCH FIRE IN SECOND HALF
A good start to the night for Colgan saw the girls’ team come away with a 56-39 win in the first matchup.
The Lady Panthers fell behind by two at the end of the first quarter, but fought back to regain the lead in the second before outscoring the Titans 17-3 in the third quarter.
Nine consecutive points for SMC to start the game — with three coming from Aubri PiccinI — set the tone for the Lady Panthers in the early going.
Columbus came back to take the lead at 14-12 at the end of the first quarter, but a 15-2 run by the Panthers in the second gave them a 31-22 lead at the half.
The run was highlighted by eight points from Piccini and included three pints by Synclaire Borum.
SMC kept the momentum going in the second half, out scoring Columbus 17-3 in the third quarter with the help of six points by Marci VanBecelaere.
The Titans cut into the deficit with a six consecutive points to begin the fourth quarter, but the Panthers held off the rally with an 8-1 run.
Piccini was the leading scorer for Colgan in the win with 15 points, while her teammate VanBecelaere finished with 11 points.
SMC BOYS FIND GROOVE IN SECOND QUARTER
The Colgan boys’ team finished off the sweep by taking the second game 66-38 in similar fashion.
Columbus jumped out to an early lead on the strength of an 11-4 run to begin the contest, but a jumper by Matthew Lomshek and a 3-pointer by Jake Dellasega narrowed the gap to 15-9 by the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers took over in the second, out scoring the Titans 20-5 in the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 31-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The second quarter was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Cal Marquardt and included three points by Dellasega.
Three consecutive 3-pointers by the Titans in the third quarter brought the score back to single digits, but 10 unanswered points by the Panthers put them back in control at 47-29 with one minute remaining before the fourth.
SMC went on to take a 50-32 lead into the fourth quarter and easily held onto the lead to get the win.
UP NEXT
The Panthers will host Sunrise Christian at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
— Jordan Buckamneer is the sports editor of the Pittsburg Morning Sun. E-mail him at jbuckamneer@morningsun.net and follow him on Twitter @jbuckamneer.