Vandals fall to Pana in regional title game

PANA – Vandalia’s season came to a close after last Friday’s loss to Pana in the regional championship game, but this season’s regional tournament will be an event the players will always remember.

After getting comeback wins in both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, the Vandals tried to parlay that momentum into a win against the Panthers, which had beaten Vandalia three times during the regular season.

But once again, Pana proved to be just too good in its 57-43 win.

“We just didn’t have anything for them,” said coach Kevin Jackson. “Our guys played very hard to do everything they could do, but we just didn’t have enough for them.”

With 4:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, Vandalia looked to be making another late push when junior Leyton Godoyo sank a free throw to move the Vandals within seven points of the lead.

Godoyo was the star of the game for the Vandals, earning a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

But unlike last Tuesday, when Vandalia erased a nine-point deficit in beating Hillsboro, and last Wednesday, when Vandalia erased a 17-point deficit in beating Carlyle, no such comeback was in the cards.

Pana scored the next five points to begin an 11-4 run that closed out the game.

Jackson attributed the Vandals’ ability to make the early-tournament comebacks to “tremendous effort in short spurts,” but said that Pana was just too good of a team to overcome.

“We had great character, and they didn’t want to lose,” he said. “They had a lot on the inside, because you could have written us off either night.”

Vandalia held three ties during the first quarter against Pana, but could never secure the lead.

But with Pana's star post player, Jared McMillen, on the bench with foul trouble for most of the first half, Vandalia was able to stay within five points of the lead, despite committing 16 turnovers and allowing Pana eight offensive rebounds.

A 9-3 run from Pana to open the second half and a 10-3 from Pana to close out the third quarter put the Vandals in a bad spot, down 40-26, as the fourth quarter began.

Vandalia opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run – including six points from senior Dathan Berning – to make Pana nervous, but it would be too little, too late.

On the season, Vandalia finished with a 20-10 record, reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

A large chunk of that success is owed to the five-man senior class – including leading scorers Berning (13.52 points per game) and Bryan Hosick (10.97 ppg).

“I’m really proud of their effort,” Jackson said of the team. “We battled our butts off to get to 20 (wins), and we’ve had some guys who had some nice years.

“The kids gave everything they had.”

Other seniors were starter Quenten Austin (6.43 ppg), and reserves Trevor Montgomery and Joey Dunn, both of whom Jackson said worked very hard without complaint all season.

Notes

The 20 wins for Vandalia mark the fifth time since 1990 that the team has reached the mark … Berning scored his 400th point of the season on a free throw in the third quarter … The Vandals last won a regional championship during the 2006-07 season … Jackson has accumulated 99 wins in his six seasons as head coach.
 

Friday, Feb. 24
at Pana Regional
vs. Pana
Pana 57
Vandalia 43
VHS: 11-5-10-17—43
PHS: 13-8-19-17—57
Points: Berning, 11; Godoyo, 10; Tim Ritchey, 9; Hosick, 8; Austin, 2; Wade Cowger, 2; Chase Woolsey, 2.
Rebounds: Godoyo, 10; Berning, 5; Hosick, 5; Woolsey, 4; Team, 4; Ritchey, 3; Austin, 1; Dunn, 1; Michael Wells, 1.
Steals: Cowger, 2; Godoyo, 2; Ritchey, 2; Austin, 1; Berning, 1; Hosick, 1; Woolsey, 1.
Blocks: Woolsey, 1.
Record: 20-10
Pana: Hrabak had 19 points.