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The quest for their first state tournament appearance in five years starts tonight in Guthrie County for the Panorama Panthers girls basketball team (20-1 overall). Class 2A’s No. 3 squad is the top seed in their regional bracket and opens their playoff run against the Van Meter Bulldogs (13-9 overall). Panorama swept the West Central Activities Conference season series against Van Meter with the Panthers winning each game by more than 18 points.

Panorama’s regular season success earned the Panthers a first-round bye in the tournament and is the host school for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. The Panthers posted an undefeated home record this season, winning contests in Panora by over 30 points per game. Panorama girls basketball coach Dan Druivenga credits the continued crowd support for his team’s success at home. “A crowded gym is always better than an empty gym,” Druivenga said, “It really helps motivate you to play harder when you hear the applause of the crowd when you do something well. We always have a good turnout, our fans come out, not just the parents but we have regular fans that come out all the time, and our kids support us as well. It’s always great to play at home.”

Van Meter topped Panorama in their most recent postseason meeting last season in the regional final, 39-38. The Bulldogs advanced to the quarterfinal round with a 56-40 victory over the West Central Valley Wildcats (9-12 overall). Emily Roberts highlighted the Bulldogs with 24 points and five rebounds in the victory.

The Raccoon Valley Radio Network will have live play by play coverage of Panorama’s postseason opener against Van Meter tonight on True Country K 107.9 and worldwide at raccoonvalleyradio.com and the KKRF mobile app. The pregame show starts our coverage around 6:40 p.m. with tip-off set for 7 p.m.