PANHANDLE, Texas (KFDA) - The Panhandle Panthers are officially into the regional semifinals after picking up wins over Spearman and most recently Hale Center.
The area round win over Hale Center came in double overtime and included a buzzer-beater three-pointer. Head coach Josh Strickland said it was a complete team effort, but the team continues to focus on the future.
“I’m so pleased with the maturity of this group because they’re the ones that are saying that in these conversations. I may initiate it, but these guys are like, coach, you’re right, that was awesome, but we’re not done yet,” Strickland said.
Senior Caden Armes and junior Landen Andrews said the team is focused on the next task at hand despite the memorable win.
Armes said a quote from his head football coach, Dane Ashley, has helped keep the team focused on moving forward.
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“Coach actually has a quote that he says in the weight room all the time, and it’s one of my favorite. He says, ‘if you had to talk about last week, then you didn’t do anything this week,’ and that just basically shows to just keep looking forward. You can enjoy the win, but after a day, it’s time to move on and go to the next game,” Armes said.
Andrews agreed with Armes’ mentality moving forward.
“You can sink it in for a couple of days, but once you step foot back on that court, you need just let it all go and continue.”
The Panthers will face the Seagraves Eagles in the regional semifinal round Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Frenship Memorial High School. The winner will advance to the regional finals.
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