Panther Valley's Connor Penberth

JIM THORPE — His team trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter, Panther Valley’s Connor Penberth simply took over the game.

Penberth drained a trio of 3-pointers and scored a game-high 28 points as Panther Valley rallied to upend Jim Thorpe 70-66 in double overtime in a non-league game Wednesday night.

The victory qualifies the Panthers (11-6) for the District 11 Class 4A playoffs, PV’s eighth straight trip to the district tournament.

Panther Valley trailed nearly the entire game, including by 12 with three minutes left.

That’s when Penberth got hot.

The point guard scored 21 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime, hitting a pair of threes in the fourth. Brody Breiner and Ben Baneravage also connected from long range in the rally, with a runner by Penberth with 5 seconds left forcing overtime.

After the teams battled to a 5-5 draw in the first extra session, Brady Jones scored a bucket and Penberth closed it from there, hitting six straight free throws to put PV ahead for good. Penberth added six rebounds and nine assists.

Logan Fisher added 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Panthers. Cole Lazorick paced a quartet of double-digit scorers for Jim Thorpe with 17 points, while Brody Schrantz had 14 and Pierce Gothard and Aaron Curran each netted 13.

PANTHER VALLEY (70) — Fisher 7 3-5 17, Penberth 8 9-11 28, Jones 3 0-0 7, Breiner 2 1-4 6, Mitchell 0 0-0 0, Neziri 1 1-2 3, Wehr 3 0-2 6, Baneravage 1 0-0 3, McArdle 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 14-24 70.

JIM THORPE (66) — Gothard 6 1-2 13, Curran 4 4-4 13, Lazorick 6 5-9 17, Antighani 0 0-0 0, Zurn 0 0-0 0, Schrantz 4 3-4 14, Moore 4 0-3 9. Totals 24 13-22 66.

PV (11-6)                 6 … 11 … 12 … 27 … 5 … 9 — 70

JT (3-14)                    11 … 15 … 15 … 15 … 5 … 5 — 66

3-point FGs: Penberth 3, Jones, Breiner, Baneravage, Curran, Schrantz 3, Moore

Tri-Valley 65, Shenandoah Valley 41

HEGINS — Matt Raulston collected a game-high 19 points as the Dawgs downed the Blue Devils in a Schuylkill League Division II game.

Raulston had both of his 3-pointers and 10 points in the second quarter, when Tri-Valley went on a 22-4 run to break the game open.

Braeden Doyle added 12 points and Gavin Klock tallied 11 for the Dawgs. Johnny Burke and David Burrows each netted 12 for Shenandoah Valley, which has lost six straight.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY (41) — A. Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Rivera 1 0-0 2, Teter 2 0-0 4, Reyes 2 0-0 6, Elchisak 0 0-0 0, Burke 5 0-0 12, Nunez 0 0-0 0, Bench 0 0-0 0, Burrows 5 2-2 12, B. Hernandez 0 0-0 0, Boris 0 0-0 0, Lopez 0 1-3 1, Castro 1 0-0 2, Knittle 0 0-0 0, Gallo 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 3-5 41.

TRI-VALLEY (65) — Schwartz 2 1-2 5, T. Porter 4 1-2 9, Straub 1 0-0 2, Johnson 3 0-0 7, Raulston 8 1-4 19, Doyle 5 1-2 12, Klock 5 0-1 11, Heidbreder 0 0-0 0, C. Troutman 0 0-0 0, Readinger 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 4-11 65.

SV (4-13, 2-8)      12 … 4 … 13 … 12 — 41

TV (13-3, 8-2)      18 … 22 … 16 … 9 — 65

3-point FGs: Reyes 2, Burke 2, Johnson, Raulston 2, Doyle, Klock

Officials: Melusky, Wojciechowsky

Girls’ Basketball

Panther Valley 50, Jim Thorpe 28

LANSFORD — Natalie Vermillion collected 15 points and five assists and Morgan Orsulak tallied 14 points as the Panthers snapped a two-game losing streak with a non-league win over the Olympians.

Vermillion had five of Panther Valley’s eight 3-pointers, scoring six points in the Panthers’ 16-3, second-quarter outburst that broke the game open.

Briana Snisky led the Olympians with 19 points, shooting 10-of-12 from the foul line.

JIM THORPE (28) — Snisky 4 10-12 19, Yeakel 0 0-0 0, Lees 1 2-3 4, Bos 0 0-0 0, Balliet 0 0-0 0, Scherer 0 0-0 0, Ress 0 0-0 0, Yuhas 2 1-2 5, Confer 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 13-17 28.

PANTHER VALLEY (50) — Gjoca 1 0-0 2, Kocha 2 0-0 5, Vermillion 5 0-0 15, Blazosky 3 0-0 6, Breslin 3 0-0 8, Prudente 0 0-0 0, Orsulak 7 0-1 14, Mo. O’Brien 0 0-0 0, McAndrew 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 0-1 50.

JT (3-13)                    9 … 3 … 13 … 3 — 28

PV (7-9)                    11 … 16 … 9 … 14 — 50

3-point FGs: Snisky, Kocha, Vermillion 5, Breslin 2

JV Score: No game

Officials: White, Scheeler

Halifax 44, Minersville 38

HALIFAX — The Miners dropped to 1-14 overall with a non-league loss to the Wildcats.