** Last game, my William & Mary sophomore typed these dribbles while we drove back from the Greenbrier after a tough loss.
** Tonight, it's my Kid's quote that drives the day … “we kept digging holes and then building ladders to get out!”
** So congratulations to our amazing Panthers and ladder carpenters who never died and found a way to build out for a most unlikely and perhaps even more important win for our Panthers.
** After all, carpenters are better than bricklayers!
** Carpenter #1. Our lead carpenter. Jaland Lowe. Throughout the game, he builds the foundation.
** Jaland was actually less than perfect as our lead carpenter. But the one quality he maintains throughout is fearlessness.
** So many times today, the author of this bit really never thought the Panthers were up to the task against the Buckeyes. But Jaland has no doubt.
** Perhaps Jaland was the only person on the court that thought he could make that jumper to tie the game at the end of regulation. Or also the tough finish for the and one to cut the 5 point Ohio State lead to two with a minute to go.
** Fearlessness is an amazing quality. It’s especially amazing when combined with talent.
** And Jaland thought he was going to hit the three with 25 seconds to tie. It was a play where he probably should have passed.
** He didn’t make that mistake twice and that’s why the Panthers climbed the final rung on this ladder in Columbus.
** Carpenter #2. The lead carpender’s trusted partner. Ish Leggett.
** Ish is equally fearless, and maybe even a tad tougher. I’m almost never worried when Ish is on the job. He wears the hardest of hats and demands the same from his crew.
** I’ve watched a whole heck of a lot of basketball this particular feast week, and I don’t think I saw a better pair of guards from in the entire county.
** And it’s actually pretty amazing that they combined for 49 points while just hitting 1 three point shot.
** Those are a couple of guys with mighty hammers.
** Carpenter #3. Our new carpenter’s apprentice. Papa Kante.
** At the 15:38 mark of the second half, carpenter Papa hammed Sean Stewart to send him to the line. At the time, the Panthers were down 11 and the fouls would have made it a 13 point game.
** Instead he clanged both and Papa scored on the other end to cut the lead to 9.
** This was undoubtedly the turning point in the game,
** Actually, the turning point was a few minutes earlier when GDG went down with injury.
** Here’s my quote at halftime: “But we are going to need to score 45 this coming half and hold them under 35. It's tough to see the latter happening.”
** I was wrong. We held them to 29.
** Personally, I just couldn’t see what would change in the Panther strategy to turn this game around.
** But Papa was that change.
** I’ll go all the way back to 2002 when freshman Chevy Troutman was inserted at the five to turn the game around for a Panther win at Georgetown.
** This performance should go right there with that one.
** Once Papa joined the defensive attack, suddenly everything the Buckeyes were trying to do became difficult.
** And I can’t even say it was always Papa’s doing. But when he came in, everyone started defending. It was pretty extraordinary actually.
** He was involved in basically every play on both ends to fuel the comeback.
** Just like Chevy changed that season, Carpenter Kante just might have the same impact.
** And finally, Carpenter #4. Zack. Zack gets last billing because he drove in the final nail.
** It’s wonderful when a player steps forward in a certain way when his team needs him most. That’s what Zack did today. Several times. Until the last time when it mattered most.
** Yep, with every hole the Panthers dug, they found a way to build a ladder to climb out.
** In fact, they built enough ladders for the best pure Panther non conference road win since … well since the Panthers beat Ohio State in Columbus in 2001.
** That was a pretty tough band of carpenters in 2001.
** These guys might be right there with them. And I think they are in pretty good shape to build some great things in 2025.
