The Alba-Golden Panthers leveraged an excellent second-half to take a bidistrict championship, Monday night, with a 51-36 win over the James Bowie Pirates in Pittsburg. 

To appreciate the win, one only needs to note a sequence with 3:44 left in the third quarter. Alba-Golden had just retaken the lead, 26-24, with a Boogie Trimble 3-pointer. The Pirates managed a good look on their next possession, but the backside rebound was snatched from the air by Payton Dickinson. 

Dickinson accelerated through the Pirates, going the length of the floor for a lay-in. He made the retreating defenders look as if they were standing still. James Bowie whistled a time-out. 

That energy was indicative of the whole Panther squad. On at least three occasions in the second half, James Bowie players elected not to chase down a loose ball. They likely thought no one could get to the balls heading out of bounds. The Panthers energy and plain, old hustle seemed to demoralize James Bowie. 

Following Dickinson’s length of the floor drive, Alba-Golden controlled the final 12 minutes. 

The Panthers had a conservative start. James Bowie employed a 2-1-2 zone which made perimeter passing to the wings problematic and collapsed quickly to double-team on the inside. Alba-Golden traded scores throughout the first quarter with Pirate guard Lane Johnson (who had an amazing first half).

It was Blake Ridgley-Harris who got the Panthers on the board with a well-executed rotation in the lane to put up a soft right-hand shot. 

Encouragingly, despite the close game in the first half, the Panthers were cleaning up on the boards. Wyatt Sutton owned the rebounding action in the first half. His excellent positioning and aggressive pursuit of rebounds wore down the Pirates.  

As a team, the Panthers had one of their best nights operating around the basket. They made solid decisions, going up strong to the hoop and often giving the ball to a teammate with a better look. 

There was plenty of hustle on display in that first half as well. Of note was the effort of Brandt Peterson and Gavin Parker in running down a James Bowie fast break and preventing a driving lay-in. 

At the half, the score was locked at 19. 

It stayed close until Dickinson’s length of the court drive late in the third quarter.  

Thereafter, Alba-Golden fans saw some quality basketball. A crisp sequence in the offensive zone – Trimble to Wyatt Sutton to Peterson – ended with a wide-open backdoor lay-up. That gave the Panthers a 6-point lead just before the quarter break.

With Cameron Lennon largely shutting down the Pirates playmaker, Alba-Golden was forcing one shot possessions by James Bowie.

On the offensive end, Dickinson had an 11-point fourth quarter – he had 30 on the night. He exploited the baseline all night, either with a jump-shot, a drive or a post-up 3-pointer.

The frenzy of activity, and smart play was too much for the Pirates. They closed the score once in the final quarter to single digits.

Alba-Golden finished with composure and went 5 of 6 from the free throw line in the final minute. 

In addition to Dickinson’s 30, Trimble added 8, Lennon and Sutton each contributed 4 , Ridgley-Harris 3 and Peterson 2.  

Alba-Golden awaits the winners of Tuesday’s game between Honey Grove and Era for the area playoff.