Well that was until Tuesday night when former head coach Chris Dole and the Panama Panthers came to town.

Playing with a 6-point lead in the final minute, Westfield felt the pressure from Panama’s Kiera Loberg. After exchanging a basket and free throw, the Panthers made no ground, but with 10.3 seconds left Loberg drilled a triple to bring the score to 49-46.

It would be difficult to get another possession again, but that’s exactly what happened for Panama and Loberg worked herself into position to tie the game, however the contested 3 hit the wrong side of the rim and Westfield escaped with the 49-46 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 victory.

“Those girls are resilient,” Westfield head coach Kyle Petersen said about his team holding on for the win.

Panama’s Jessica Lyon attempts to get to the basket while Westfield’s Arielle Corbett (5) defends during Tuesday’s CCAA Division 2 girls basketball game in Westfield. OBSERVER Photo by Christian Storms

“They played a lot of basketball and that’s kind of what it comes down to. Playing under Coach Dole they’re played so much basketball that they’ve learned to kind of handle the situation. I can show them what to do, but the look on their face was stone cold, they were ready for the moment and they took advantage of it.”

The Wolverines outpaced Panama 8-1 to start the game, taking it right to the Panthers from the start and never relinquished the lead.

“I told them this one we were going to have to battle the entire way,” Petersen said about his team. “We know how Coach Dole coaches his team, I told them if we were going to win this game we were going to grind it out. That’s exactly what we did.”

After being held off the scoresheet in the first quarter, Loberg hit her stride in the second with 8 of her game-high 20 points for the Panthers and brought the deficit to 22-20.

“When she starts playing within the framework of the team she plays better,” Dole, Panama’s first-year head coach, said about Loberg. “When she thinks she has to take it all on her own shoulders, that’s a big burden for anybody. She started playing off the pass, she started getting a lot of tips, steals, and was getting a lot of layup looks. She’s a bonafide player, she’s very good.”

However, that momentum was snuffed out as Mackenzie Schumaker hit her third triple of the half and Westfield took a 25-20 lead into the break.

Schumaker picked right up where she left off with another three 3-pointers in the third quarter and a 42-30 lead with a period to play looked to keep Westfield undefeated.

“When our team needed her the most she came in clutch for us tonight,” Petersen said about Schumaker. “That will give her confidence going throughout the year.”

As the game went on the Panama defense started to wear on Westfield and it got the Panthers back into the game.

“We have a nice bag of defensive looks,” Dole said about his team. “There’s about four or five different defenses we run. The girls have adjusted well, it’s not something these Panama girls have been used to as far as playing full-court trapping defense and running up and down the floor. They have been more of a half-court style team, I’m trying to change that a little bit and they’re coming around.”

Aside from Schumaker’s hot hand, Westfield relied on Nahlia Douglas to get the big baskets in crunch time.

“She’s tough,” Petersen said about Douglas. “That’s another one that’s played a lot of basketball. She loves basketball. … She has come a long way since last year and I just can’t wait for her going forward.”

Douglas scored 6 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a big pair at the free throw line in the final minute. Schumaker also had 18 points and three assists; Douglas had four steals; Olivia Wolfe handed out four assists and grabbed five rebounds; and Reagan Weingart had eight boards and four steals for the Wolverines (8-0, 3-0).

“Schumaker and Douglas killed us,” Dole said about his former team. “So did the rest of them, you can’t leave anyone out of that, they’ve got some very good players. Coach Petersen did a great job coaching, I’ve just got to tip my cap to them.”

Along with Loberg’s 20 points, Jessica Lyon scored 16 in Panama’s push. The Panthers (4-4, 1-1) managed to claw back to a one-possession game in the final seconds, but the comeback fell just short.

“Our girls played well all night,” Dole stated. “The first half they were a little bit shell shocked, but they battled back. We started playing possession basketball and that’s what we need to do and trust the structure of the team. We got the one three to get us back into it, then we got the turnover and we got a good look, it wasn’t an on-balance look, but it was a good look to tie the game.”

PANAMA (46)

Warner 1 0 2, Olson 1 2 4, Kolstee 2 0 4, Loberg 7 3 20, Lyon 6 3 16, Straight 0 0 0. Totals 17 8 46.

WESTFIELD (49)

Douglas 5 8 18, Corbett 1 0 3, SWolfe 1 1 3, Burgess 0 0 0, Weingart 1 2 4, OWolfe 1 1 3, Schumaker 6 0 18. Totals 15 12 49.

3-point goals–Loberg 3, Lyon, Corbett, Schumaker 6.

Panama 8 12 10 16 — 46

Westfield 14 11 17 7 — 49