The Panthers varsity basketball team had a difficult CCS game at Monterey High School, which ultimately resulted in a loss. The Panthers bus was scheduled to arrive at Monterey around 6 or 6:15 p.m. that night however the team bus did not arrive till 6:35 p.m., which put the Panthers behind the eight ball from the beginning. 

“It was tough having a shortened warm-up and being rushed, but there are no excuses for our play,” senior Taylor Clark said.

The bus arriving late started a rough night for the Panthers as nobody could get it going offensively. Reliable scorers Jacob Yamigishi, Miles Klapper, and Lou Martineau combined for a meager 5 points. 

“I struggled tonight, we all struggled tonight, it just wasn’t our night I guess,” sophomore Lou Martineau said.

The final score of the Monterey game was 65-44 in favor of Monterey.

As for the rest of the Panthers season, it is safe to say it was a slight improvement as the Panthers went from 11-15 to 16-10 this season. To add on, much of the core of last year’s team was on this year’s team, showing that the players indeed got better and there is considerable potential within the group.

“It was a slight improvement this year, we did win more games, but its sour taste right now because we got bounced in the second round for the second straight year,” sophomore Lou Martineau said.

As Martineau touched on, the season ended in similar fashion to last year as the Panthers season ended earlier than expected.

Luckily for the Panthers, they will keep most of their starting core intact with the only key losses being seniors Taylor Clark and Anthony Slyvestri. 

Key contributors Will Uhrich, Sean Richardson, Lou Martineau, Miles Klapper, Tyler Maushenhund, Jacob Yamigishi (all sophomores, will be juniors next year) and junior (senior next year) Ryan Ballout, are all expected back next year.

There is even more talent in the pipeline as sophomores Carson Robenalt and Ryan Gurovich, as well as freshmen MJ Dowd, Zaden Martin, and Kyle Haslem, all look to make the team and potentially make an impact for the Varsity team next season.

As this season ends with a disappointing loss, the future is bright for this young Panthers squad.