While Panorama Panthers fans patiently wait for the beginning of the fall sports seasons, there are plenty of positives to look back on including the Panorama Panthers Girls Basketball and their run into the state tournament.

Historically, the Panthers Girls Basketball program is always good, like really good, over the past ten seasons the girls basketball team has gone a combined 212-33 and hasn’t lost more than ten games in any of those seasons. This is also the same team that spent the last four years in the regional final game.

This year the same core of players that spent the previous three seasons falling out of the postseason one game short of state made it over the hump into the state tournament. After a phenomenal regular season that saw the Panthers girls only losing one game, by just one point, the Panthers once again found themselves in the regional championship game for the fourth consecutive season and this time it was a revenge match against the only team to beat them in the regular season, the Nodaway Valley Wolverines.

The Panthers girls battled hard against the Wolverines in this year’s regional championship and came away victorious by a score of 58-41 behind signature performances from Laci Rishel, Payton Beckman, Tyme Boettcher and Jaidyn Sellers along with the rest of the team and finally this core of players was on to the state tournament.

Once the brackets came out the Panthers knew they drew the Regina Catholic Regals in the Class 2A Quarterfinal round at Wells Fargo Arena. The Panthers girls earned a quality win which sent them on to the semifinal round against the eventual Class 2A State Champion Dike-New Hartford Wolverines where the Panthers fell by a score of 67-23 capping their phenomenal season at 25-2.

The Panthers girls will be returning plenty of talent next year but have said goodbye to some outstanding seniors who played in four straight regional championship games in Laci Rishel, Gabby Welberg, Angel Poldberg and Payton Beckman.

If history continues to repeat itself, the Panthers Girls Basketball team will continue to dominate when the 2022/23 season begins.