The Panthers’ performance Monday evening at Jamestown Community College was worthy of the high praise.

No. 1 Panama, the state’s top-ranked Class D team, according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, scored the first basket of the game and never looked back en route to a 68-41 victory over No. 4 Clymer in a Section VI Class D semifinal inside the Physical Education Complex.

“All season long, we’ve tried to prepare ourselves for tonight,” Panama head coach Ed Nelson said.

The Panthers’ Bryce Hinsdale opened the game with a 3-pointer on his way to 20 points, and after the Pirates’ Roman Wassink made a pair of free throws, Panama went on a 20-0 run to take a 23-2 lead.

Clymer’s Kameron Einink, left, shoots over Panama’s Tate Catanese. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

“We were kind of champing at the bit to get out there and get going,” Nelson said. “Definitely, that fast start helped us out.”

Clymer’s Kameron Einink made his team’s first field goal with 9 seconds left in the first quarter to make it 23-4. All told, the Pirates went 1 for 9 from the field and turned the ball over seven times in the opening eight minutes, which led to 13 points for Panama.

“If there was any way we were going to stay in it, we had to take care of the ball and not give them the runouts,” Clymer head coach Irv King said, “because they make you pay so dearly for them.”

Clymer actually outscored the Panthers 12-7 in the second quarter as Panama piled up five of its nine turnovers in the game. But it was already too late at that point.

“We just have to keep getting better,” Nelson said. ” … We had a long stretch there in the second quarter where we turned the ball over a few times and missed some shots we don’t normally miss.”

Panama’s Michael Horton shoots over Clymer’s Roman Wassink during Monday’s Section VI Class D boys basketball semifinal at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex. Photo courtesy of Steve Garvey

The Panthers quickly turned their 30-16 lead into a 54-28 blowout by the end of the third quarter thanks to Carter Brink scoring 11 of his 20 points in the period.

“We played a lot of good ball, other than those turnovers and runouts,” King said. “We had some of them in the third quarter, too.”

Einink led Clymer with 19 points to go along with four rebounds.

“He hasn’t scored a great deal as of late,” King said of Einink, “so it was a great way for him to end.”

The 27-point result was not much different from the teams’ two regular-season meetings. Panama won 68-32 in Panama on Jan. 9 and 60-29 on Feb. 7 in Clymer.

“They are athletic across the board. Unlike most teams, all five guys are scoring threats and they make it so hard,” King said of the Panthers. “They are such a veteran team, they pass the ball so well and quick.”

The Panthers will look for their 12th sectional title Friday when they take on No. 2 Forestville in the 6 p.m. championship game back at JCC.

“These kids have kind of had a target on their backs for years now. I remember when these kids were freshman and we’d go into a place like Pine Valley and they’d have a ‘white out’ and try to have huge games against these kids,” Nelson said. “These kids have been playing in environments and games like this their whole careers. They were excited for it.”

NOTES: Alex Barmore had 12 points, 19 rebounds and five steals; Jordan Mescall had six assists and four rebounds; Brink had four assists and four steals; and Tate Catanese had five rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots for Panama which shot 26 of 66 from the field, including 5 of 22 from 3-point range. … Wassink had 10 points and seven rebounds, while Carson White had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals for Clymer, which shot 16 of 51 from the field, including 2 of 16 from 3-point range, and turned the ball over 16 times.

CLYMER (41)

White 1 0 2, BBeckerink 1 3 5, Einink 8 2 19, Perry 0 0 0, Johnson 2 0 5, Wassink 4 2 10, JBeckerink 0 0 0, Mitchell 0 0 0. Totals 16 7 41.

PANAMA (68)

Barmore 5 0 10, Hinsdale 8 1 20, Mescall 2 0 5, Eggleston 0 0 0, Horton 0 2 2, Brink 7 3 20, Spiesman 0 2 2, Catanese 2 1 5, Burkholder 1 0 2, Rhoades 0 0 0. Totals 25 11 68.

3-point goals–Einink, Johnson, Hinsdale 3, Mescall, Brink 3.

Clymer 4 12 12 13 — 41

Panama 23 7 24 14 — 68