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BRISTOLVILLE -- It seems as though the only thing that can slow down the Bristol Panthers this season is the COVID-19 pandemic.
After another lengthy shutdown, the Panthers got past St. Thomas Aquinas, 56-48, in a Division IV sectional bracket final on Friday.
"This was the first time we've played in two-and-a-half weeks," Bristol coach Craig Giesy said. "I know the other schools have had to deal with the protocols. We've really been hit hard by it. My hats off to these guys for how they played tonight."
The game got off to a bit of a slow start as Aquinas led 8-6 after one quarter. With 4:30 left until halftime, the Knights were up 15-10. Then Bristol started finding the bottom of the net.
Junior Nick Church (18 points) nailed a couple from behind the arc to spark the offense.
"Tonight was a team-fought victory," Church said. "We worked all week. We watched film all week. Our coaches had a perfect game plan coming into tonight."
That game plan definitely involved freshman Mikey Burbach. Senior Jeremy Miller finished off the first half with a great no-look pass to Burbach down low, and the game was tied 25-25 at the break.
" He's (Burbach) had a great year," Giesy said. "We knew he would have a lot of opportunities tonight because of their style of play. He's actually a willing passer. Sometimes, too willing. We were begging him all week to be more aggressive at the rim, and put the ball in the hole for us. He probably had double-digit rebounds tonight. He played really well."
Burbach scored the first six points to begin the third quarter as he was on his way to a game-high 21 points on the night.
"This was just about team effort today," Burbach said. "We went out there and had fun basically. We were passing really well. We kept our heads in the game when it got close."
The Panthers built a 13-point lead by the end of the third. Senior Jake Erjavec put in a pair of 3-pointers from straightaway. Hadyn Mahan went coast-to-coast for a score, Church tossed an alley-oop to Miller, who finished with a lay-in, and Bristol was up 47-34 heading into the fourth.
However, the game did get close again. Church took the ball strong to the hoop for a finish for the first score for Bristol after 4 minutes had gone by in the fourth quarter. The Knights were playing some tight defense as they cut the deficit to 6 points.
"St. Thomas is a good team," Giesy said. "They've won 10 of the last 12 games they've played. We knew we had a big-time challenge on our hands. My guys did a great job of executing the game plan."
They certainly did. Burbach and Miller worked a perfect give-and-go. Miller passed it off to Burbach and drove to the hoop. Burbach gave it back to Miller, who finished, and the Panthers moved on to the next round.
Bristol will host Lowellville next Tuesday in a district semifinal.
"Our upperclassman led the group," Giesy said. "The young guys came in and did what they had to do. Communication was good. We boxed out really well tonight. We're moving on and playing next week."