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Pandemic practice

By Brian Yauger 4 min read

BRISTOLVILLE -- Heading into Bristol's opening tournament matchup on Feb. 26, the Panthers were just returning from a two-and-a half-week quarantine. That freshness looks to have benefitted the team as Friday marked the team's third straight tournament win, taking down Mathews 74-44 in a Division IV district final.

"We were off two-and-a-half weeks before our first tournament game, so we had a lot of time to prepare," Panthers coach Craig Giesy said. "We finally had time to practice. We didn't think it was a good thing, but it ended up being a good thing. We got some practice time in, we were able to prepare for this run, our legs were there, and we put out a great three-game stretch right here."

The Mustangs held a 16-15 lead after the first quarter, but Bristol broke out in the second, scoring 21 points while holding Mathews to four.

Senior guard Jeremy Miller was a large part of that breakout run for the Panthers, scoring seven of his 14 points in the second frame. Junior Nick Church led the team with 20 points and senior Jake Erjavec scored 15. Anthony Dakin tacked on 12.

Bristol isn't afraid to spread the ball around, which Giesy says is a big reason why the team has made it as far as it has.

"This team is as unselfish a team as we've had," Giesy said. "There's not really any guys here that are worried about their points. They make the extra pass when they're supposed to. If we ask them to be patient, they're usually patient. We have a lot of unselfish guys and that's why we're here right now."

The Panthers have continuously reloaded their talent pool. After losing last season's senior class, there were multiple question marks surrounding the Bristol roster. They dispelled those questions quickly however, as they moved to 13-3 with the win.

"We just worked our butts off in our gym with these 14 guys," Giesy said. "For them to get this far after the seniors we lost last year, it's really something special. I couldn't be more proud of a group of seniors or a group of kids. I'm just happy for them."

Mathews' season ends at 16-9 and the team reached the district final for the second time in school history. The Mustangs won their first three tournament games by a combined seven points to reach the final.

"It's incredible to look back at Christmas which was like three months ago and we didn't even know if we were going to have a season," Mustangs coach Mike Weymer said. "The fact we were able to play 21 games plus four tournament games is amazing and I'm happy for our kids.

"It doesn't feel so good right now, but I'm sure we'll look back at this experience fondly. We made a lot of memories. The way the school and community supported us these last few weeks with videos and signs and a police escort out of town today. I'm really proud of our kids. It's not the result we wanted, but we'll keep working."

Mathews graduates one senior in Kyle Powell and returns leading scorers Vinny Sharp and Dominic Greenwood for one more season. Sharp finished the night with a team-high 15 points.

With three straight upsets in the tournament over the ninth, third and fifth seeds, respectively, the Mustangs have a good amount to build on heading into the 2021-22 season.

The Panthers advance to the regional semifinals for the second time in five years, where they'll take on Richmond Heights at Akron Firestone High School.

"All I know (about them) is hearsay," Giesy said. "We're gonna go to Akron Firestone and we're gonna enjoy it. We played Richmond Heights two years ago when we went to regionals as well. We're gonna go out there and put a game plan together and we're going to do what we do."

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