Split… Panther Faithful… Men’s League
Panthers split there games on opening weekend at home. That and more in Kendricks new blog
Starting the season at home with a split is not what we initially wanted, but to rebound with a win Saturday night after losing in heartbreaking fashion the previous evening has to be considered a huge positive! Friday night's one point loss was a tough one for us. We didn't feel like we played at our level at times throughout the game. Full credit to X, as they certainly caused a lot of our grief. Having said that, we certainly felt that we let one slip away from us that we probably should have won. There is an old saying about adversity, that if it doesn't kill you, it will only make you stronger. We played the first half of the game Saturday night like the adversity from the previous tilt might have actually killed us! I thought that we played passively and without emotion in the first half. X was playing well, and had built the lead to 17 before we closed to 10 at the half. We used the halftime break to regroup and refocus. We reminded our guys about our program expectations and our positive culture. From the start of the third quarter, I saw a different focus and mindset from our guys. We had the lead trimmed to six to begin the fourth, and were able to pull out a big four point victory! Full credit to our guys, they were challenged at halftime to live up to our goals and standards we have set for our program, and they responded accordingly!
I call our fans the PANTHER FAITHFUL, and they were nothing short of spectacular this weekend! Aside from filling the place for two straight games, our gym was the loudest that I have seen during my era. The "Defense" and "Go Panthers Go" chants plus the foot stomping were absolute music to our ears! Make no mistake, our players are still young men, this type of fan support and overwhelming positive energy and noise level really makes an impact on them! I truly believe that our fans really helped pick us up this weekend, especially in the fourth quarter Saturday night! Hopefully, when we return home for two against MUN on Nov. 26 and 27, the old Panther Den will be full and raucous again!
A reminder that the "Free Agent" PEI Sr. Men's Basketball League unofficial tryout is this Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 8:00pm. If you are a male basketball player that is no longer in high school, and looking for a team, make sure you are present at this run! Team reps will be present looking to possibly add players, and if there is enough interest, we could even look at forming a team from the players present at this run.
GO PANTHERS GO!
