Panthers Basketball: Seniors Warren and Love come up huge in OT thriller against Lustre Christian

The Saco-Whitewater Panthers have been a work in progress for the last few years, but last Friday the team showed tremendous heart as they took down the Lustre Christian Lions in a 45-43 overtime thriller.

The win is the team's first home win in Saco in nearly a whole calender year.

Seniors Chance Love and Jeret Warren showed up at crucial points in the game.

The team had been trailing for most of the game, but when it mattered most the team showed up.

"We started off a little shaky," Warren admitted. "But then after a while we came around and played together. In the fourth quarter and overtime we played team ball a lot better."

The team was down by ten (26-16) at halftime and while the team hasn't overcome that big a deficit in a while, the team didn't give up.

During the half time break, while fans were buying goods from the bake sale, the Panthers were coming together.

"It was about playing with the heart of a Panther, getting back in it and doing what we had to do to get back in it and win," Love said.

Warren added that the team talked about staying tough on defense.

That defense was tough, only giving up 13 points in the second half, while scoring 23 points of their own.

With 9.8 seconds left in the game, Saco-Whitewater had one more opportunity to score and send the game into overtime.

After running the clock down to 1.2 seconds, Love hit the biggest shot of his high school basketball career, a two point buzzer beater that send the whole gym into a frenzy. The game was tied 39-39.

"I fumbled a little bit, then I drove and just got that last layup," Love said.

After the big shot, in overtime, the team only gave up one two point field goal and a pair of free throws during the last couple of minutes.

Lustre was at the line five times for eight attempts, while the Panthers only have six attempted shots at the line.

The Panthers knocked down three of those shots.

The last converted free throw was made by Warren, who had never been in an overtime game during his career with the team.

"I knew (after his first free throw) I had a bit of breathing room, but I knew I couldn't think too much and I over thought the second one," Warren said.

Trey Simonson also played an intricate role in overtime as he hit a huge three point field goal before eventually fouling out.

Simonson led the team with 14 points that night, though he got into early foul trouble and saw more bench time than usual.

Love scored eight points that night.

Layne Engel played admirable coming off the bench and knocking down two big treys in the second quarter. He had eight points.

Warren has faced a bit of shooting drought, but knocked down a couple of treys in the game, his second three pointer put his team within two points in the fourth. He had seven points that night.

When asked about his confidence to keep shooting though he has been missing his mark lately Warren said, "I know I've been in that situation before and I've missed and I was like, I can't miss this again."

Though the team played their best when it counted, Love and Warren know they can improve.

"I don't think we played to our full capabilities and I definitely think that we can play better, but when we needed to get it, we got it so that's all that matters," Love said.

Love believes that harder practices and working on the small mistakes that often add up will go a long way for this team as they try to gear up for the post-season.

"We need less turnovers, more team ball, longer possessions on offense and tougher defense," Warren said.

Both players are from the Whitewater community but were excited to bring a win to Saco.

Dodson will be the next team that Saco-Whitewater faces in Whitewater tomorrow night. The game starts at 7:30 p.m.

The team will then go to Frazer to take on the Frazer Bearcubs at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.