The situation in the Alba-Golden gymnasium Friday night was pressing, very pressing.

The Panther defense was doing the pressing, playing a pressure game from start to finish as they opened the 2016-2017 hoop season by hosting the Hawkins Hawks and waltzing to a smart 69-28 victory.

Coach Jeff Mason’s crew looked like they had half a season under their belts on the defensive side of the ledger, while the offense, which was sharp, appeared to be in just average season starting shape. Bad passes and careless ball handling cost the Panthers in the form of frequent turnover. However, that pressing defense was stellar enough to overcome the offensive errors and create an abundance of Hawkins turnovers in return.

“We had a lot of the problems that go along with first games of the season. We were a little tight and got a little sloppy on some of our passing, but overall the boys worked pretty good for the first time out,” observed a happy Mason after the game.

While Hawkins appeared to have a lot of talent on the court, the Hawks also appeared to be in normal season opening form for the average high school squad which has just finished football season. When the Hawks get their game going they could be a team to be cautious of in a few weeks, say about the time district play begins.

With both sides of the court committing numerous turnovers in the opening quarter the game was close at 10-7.

In the second period Alba-Golden settled down and got into their real game and sizzled the nets for 29 points to take a 39-19 lead at the half.

The third quarter saw the Panther offense hold to its steady pace with 19 points of production while that pressing defense had things all their way, limiting the Hawks to only six points. That pressure defense got even tighter in the final quarter, yielding only 3 points in the final stanza. The Panthers meanwhile kept their offense on cruise control and coasted home with 11 fourth quarter points to seal the 41-point victory.

Fred Reeves was the man of the hour offensively for the Panthers in the opener, ringing up a whopping first night total of 26 points, playing mostly only the first three quarters. Reeves found a home lingering around the base line in a low post position, picking up rebounds and slick passes for a bevy of five and six foot shots, ending the game with 11 field goals up close, one three-pointer from the corner and one free shot.

By the time the final buzzer had sounded, eight Panthers had made their marks in the scoreboard with Dawson Kirk and Shawn Davis joining Reeves in the double figure. Kirk hit seven two-pointers, four of them in the final quarter, to finish with 14 points. Meanwhile Davis utilized the long-range bombing method to rack up most of his 13-point total, hitting the target four times from three-point range to go along with one free throw.

While Hawkins had seven different players crack the scoring column, the best any of them could do was Mark Pope with eight points. Cameron Taylor and Evorin Gipson were next on the list with five points each.

The Alba-Golden Panthers (1-0) visit Big Sandy Tuesday, then break until Nov. 29 when they will visit West Rusk. The next home appearance for Alba-Golden will be Dec. 6 when the Panthers host Kerens before playing the North Hopkins tournament Dec. 8-10.

Hawkins (0-1) is scheduled to play its home opener Tuesday night against New Diana and then break until Nov. 29 when the Hawks will host Tyler Heat before going to the Hughes Springs Tournament Dec. 1-3, playing a single game at Hughes Springs Dec. 6 and then going to the Harmony tournament Dec. 8-10.