From there, the Wildcats made it all the way to the state finals.

Thanks to a monster second quarter, the Panthers were able to get a little revenge on Thursday as they stormed past the Wildcats 50-36 to stay perfect in Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 West play.

Coming into the contest, Sherman sat atop the league and was the No. 4 Class D team in the state, while Panama was ranked at No. 11 by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

Through the first quarter and early part of the second both teams were playing to their ranking, then came the Panthers’ big run.

Panama’s Mandy Brink (3) puts up a shot in traffic during Thursday’s CCAA Division 2 West game against Sherman at Sherman Central School. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“When we play each other,” Panama head coach Dennis Hinsdale said about Sherman, “records don’t mean nothing, rankings don’t mean nothing, it’s just 10 girls out there and they know what each other can do. It’s just a dog fight every time.”

Panama went down 18-14 in the second quarter then proceeded to score the final 16 points of the half to take a 30-18 lead.

“Lilly (Odell) hit a couple of 3s that were huge,” Hinsdale stated. “When she gets her confidence, she can be deadly. She’s struggled a little bit this year, but keep shooting; shooters don’t stop shooting.”

The Panthers’ big offensive push was led by top scorer Mandy Brink who scored 8 of her 23 points in the second frame and when not scoring she was setting up teammates. She had seven assists to go along with her three steals in the game.

Benefiting most from Brink’s offense were teammates Kaitlyn Horton and Odell, who also reached double digits, scoring 12 and 11, respectively. Horton also collected nine rebounds and three steals, while Odell grabbed six boards.

Sherman's Paige Gratto shoots a 3-pointer during Thursday's game. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“I like that and would like to see more of it,” Hinsdale said of the depth scoring. “Sometimes we get a little stagnant on our offensive end. A lot of our offense is off of Mandy’s dribble penetration and feeds, which is why she’s player of the year.”

Sherman’s offense was rolling early in the game with Hayden Fisher scoring 12 of her 16 points in the first half and Paige Gratto hitting two of her three treys in the first quarter. Then, the Panama defense managed to figure them out, leading to the big run.

“We had to play players out of rotation, because we got into foul trouble,” Sherman head coach Emily Eckwahl stated. “We were just trying different combinations and gave things up there.”

Sherman improved in the second half, but it took too long for the offense to get going again and the damage had already been done by Panama. The Wildcats fought hard under the basket for rebounds with Leighanne Swan grabbing seven boards and Gratto hauling in six.

“Our league is one of the toughest one’s around here,” Eckwahl stated. “Every league game is a battle and I expected nothing less out of Panama tonight.”

Panama's Mandy Brink shoots a 3-pointer during Thursday's game. P-J photo by Christian Storms

With the win, Panama moves into first place in the division and could find itself in the top 10 of the state rankings.

PANAMA (50)

Brink 8 7 23, Schauman 0 0 0, PRange 0 0 0, Greene 1 0 2, Morgan 0 2 2, Horton 5 2 12, KRange 0 2 2, Markham 0 0 0, Odell 4 0 11. Totals 18 13 50.

SHERMAN (36)

Bates 0 0 0, Persons 0 2 2, PGratto 3 0 9, Wagner 1 0 2, Swan 2 0 4, Martin 1 0 3, Fisher 6 4 16. Totals 13 6 36.

3-point goals–Odell 3, PGratto, Martin.

Panama 11 19 7 13 — 50

Sherman 14 4 8 10 — 36