The basketball team won their first game against Pompton Lakes Friday Dec. 19. They score was 61-55.

They started out strong having a fourteen point lead. Then Pompton started to make a comeback bringing the game to within ten points.

Khalil Williams scored a total of thirty-nine points helping the team come out with the win.

“I did not have my best game, but I had a lot of trust in my teammates and I knew they would rally and not give up,” Mike O’Hagan, varsity basketball player and junior, said.  He scored four points and got Pompton to charge him twice giving the Panthers the ball.

“We need to make sure we have high energy the whole game. We are getting better every day and we are building off of each other’s performances,” Brady Miller, senior and co-captain, said. Miller hustled up and down the court going after lose balls to contribute to the win for his team.

Dan Frissora contributed with seven points and a bunch of rebounds. Towards the end of the game Frissora made some mistakes like giving the ball to the other team on an inbounds pass, but that leaves room for improvement during the week of practice and the games to come this season. “A lot of younger guys stepped up when we needed it in key moments of the game. The pressure got to us a little in the second half but we were still able to come out with the win,” Frissora, co-captain and senior, said.

Three players fouled out which in turn gave the other team some free points, but in the end they won their first game which is a good way to start the season. For their next game the focus is to keep the fouls to a minimum and hopefully no one will foul out.