It’s never easy to beat a team three times, and Wellington sure made Panhandle work for it, but in the end, the Panthers were able to prevail by getting that third victory this season against district rival Wellington while making school history in the process.
Panhandle pulled away from Wellington down the stretch for an intense 52-39 win to earn the programs first ever Region I-2A Division I championship in front of a standing room only crowd, juiced with energy for all four quarters at the Joe Lombard Gymnasium in Canyon.
“Both communities showed up and this place was packed,” Panhandle head coach Josh Strickland said. “This is Texas High School Basketball at its best. There is no words I can’t put together of how proud I am. This community has been wanting this for a long time. We’ve always strived to get a regional title, and these people and these kids deserve it.”
The Panthers (28-6) are now headed to the Class 2A Division I state semifinals where they will face Waco Meyer (29-6) at a time and place to be determined.
Wellington ends a tremendous season at 22-10.
This game was wild from start to finish.
From the energy of the crowd, to the energy on the floor, both teams went back-and-forth. In total, this contest saw eight ties and 14 lead changes. The lead was no bigger than six until the fourth quarter, however, it was the third quarter where things picked up.
Panhandle and Wellington went to the locker room tied, 23-23, with seven ties and five lead changes, but in the third quarter, the Panthers and Skyrockets started putting on a show with nine lead changes alone.
The two teams went shot for shot, trading buckets, and trading leads. Caden Armes would bury a 3-pointer putting Panhandle up 29-28, only to see Wellington’s Jimmy Cantu answer putting the Skyrockets right back on top. That’s how the eight minutes went, until Armes made the play of the night to close out the quarter.
Trailing 37-34 and time winding down with only five seconds remaining, Armes had the ball at mid court. Armes took a few dribbles towards his bench and fired off an off-balanced 3-pointer from the timeline that somehow was nothing but net along with being fouled as time expired.
Armes sank the free-throw, turning the tides by putting Panhandle up 38-37.
“When he makes that shot, that changed everything,” Strickland said. “It was a deep shot, I can’t believe it went in. He is also automatic from the free-throw line and I feel that just changed the entire game.”
Armes echoed his coaches comment.
“That shot was big,” Armes said. “I don’t know how that went in, but it changed everything about the game.”
Armes had nine of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter alone with three, 3-pointers.
“Caden Armes is an All-State player,” Strickland said. “He is one of our captains and one of the best I’ve ever coached. He was so great for us in this win.”
Armes also opened the fourth quarter with a big 3-pointer that sank Wellington, as the Panthers started to pull away. On top of Armes sharp-shooting, junior Luke Schmucker then followed with a long ball of his own as the Panthers pushed the lead out to eight, 47-39. Wellington went cold in the fourth, running out of gas, as the Panthers pulled away by outscoring the Skyrockets 14-2 in the quarter.
“We started settling in,” Strickland said. “We locked in that fourth quarter, and guarded a little better. They just went cold and we made the shots we needed to. That’s how basketball goes. Our guys have never wavered and they showed that. We just want to keep this going.”
This game was extremely special for Schmucker, who followed Armes with nine points. Schmucker had to stay home Thursday for practice, but did get to watch his father, and Panhandle girls head coach, Rob, led the Ettes to the school’s third UIL state championship. Schmucker was then able to share a special embrace with his dad following the win over Wellington.
“It’s been an amazing two days,” Schmucker said. “I go to the state tournament every year and now we’re getting closer is awesome. My dad has so many gold balls, but now I can hopefully have a space there next to him.”
Despite the loss, Wellington’s Jimmy Cantu had a team-high 14 points.