Staff photo / Brian Yauger Bristol junior Lauren Church drives to the basket through Windham’s defense during the Panthers’ road win Wednesday.

WINDHAM — Entering Wednesday’s game, both Bristol and Windham, two younger teams just trying to find footing in this new season, were in search of their first win. It was the Panthers who got that, taking down the Bombers, 43-34.

After an 0-2 start with promising signs, Bristol coach Randall Ward is happy his team’s efforts are paying off.

“They worked hard. We were 0-2 going into today, but our girls played hard our first two games,” Ward said. “We just didn’t make some shots early on. Tonight, we played well outside of the third quarter, beginning of the fourth quarter but as long as we keep getting better, we’re gonna be all right.

“We could talk to the girls about how they’re improving and getting better and doing those things, but until they win it and see the results for the hard work they put in, they don’t get the confidence. I’m glad they got rewarded today for their effort.”

Junior Lauren Church led the way with 16 points for the Panthers.

While young, the potential is there to do some damage this season.

“This is a young group, who works extremely hard, is extremely coachable and fun to coach,” Ward said. “We have a great coaching staff. Our two assistant coaches do a tremendous job. We have one senior on our team right now, so we’re learning as we go, but we feel pretty positive about this group.”

Windham is in a similar boat, but the Bombers (0-3) are even younger; they have five freshmen playing significant minutes early on in the year.

Coach Jim Collins expected a bumpy start to the season, so the 0-3 start isn’t disheartening. They’re still a work in progress.

“They play hard,” he said. “They’re learning how to play basketball the right way.”

It shows in flashes. After scoring just eight points in the first half, the Bombers doubled that in the third quarter, scoring 16.

Kierrah Sanders led the way with 11 points for Windham.

The Bombers play again tonight, as they look to find their first win of the year. Their opposition? A very strong Maplewood team.

Wednesday’s game showed encouraging signs for Windham however, and Collins hopes to see the same effort again.

“I want more of what I saw tonight,” Collins said. “I told them in the locker room that this is the first game all year — shame on me, shame on them, I don’t know who we shame — but this is the first game all year that for four quarters, they stayed in the fight. They didn’t get down, they didn’t start blaming each other, they just played, and it’s the first time, so that’s a big step. We took a big step tonight. Can we do it back-to-back nights? Because tomorrow night’s going to be a tough one.”

Bristol (1-2) looks to keep its momentum going with a home game against Newton Falls on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 11:45 a.m.