Prairie City/Burnt River’s Tucker Wright shoots the ball over Four Rivers defenders during his team’s Saturday, Jan. 14, matchup with the Falcons. Wright finished the game with 10 points.

PRAIRIE CITY — The Prairie City/Burnt River boys basketball team welcomed Four Rivers to town on Saturday, Jan. 14, and left the Falcons with a lot to think about on the two-hour bus ride home following their 66-46 drubbing at the hands of the Panthers.

The Panthers took a 19-8 lead into the second quarter, with the final seconds of play in the first acting as something of a sign as to how things would go throughout the game. Doyal Lawrence stole the ball with time running out in the period and launched a prayer from around half-court that swished through the net as time expired.

The Panthers would carry that momentum into the second quarter, going on a 13-4 run to start the period and force a Four Rivers timeout with the score at 32-12. The Falcons played the Panthers evenly for the rest of the second quarter but still found themselves trailing 40-22 at the half.

The Panthers would start the third quarter the same way they started the second, with a run. A 10-4 Panther spurt opened the third quarter before the Falcons settled down and scored five straight of their own to force a Panther timeout with the score at 50-29.

The Falcons added four more points in the third quarter to cut the Panther lead to 17 headed into the final quarter of play. There was little drama and little chance of a comeback as the Panthers outscored the Falcons 16-13 in the final quarter to win a by a convincing 66-46 scoreline and push their record to 9-6 on the season.

The Panthers had four players score 10 points or more in the contest, led by Eli Wright’s 15. Lawrence sank four three-pointers and added 14 points for the Panthers.

Wes Voigt chipped in 12 points for the Panthers, and Tucker Wright finished the game with 10 points.

Panther head coach Kelsy Wright praised his team’s effort against Four Rivers. “The boys played excellent tonight,” he said. “They played as a team and moved the basketball. They just clicked really well tonight.”

The Panthers started fast, which has been a point of emphasis recently for the team.

“We worked on that all week,” Wright said.

“We had a long road trip last weekend,” he added. “Had to go to Jordan Valley then Adrian and sleep in the gym. … Adrian whipped on us pretty good, so all week we just practiced on teamwork, taking care of the basketball, rebounding like mad. They did a great job.”

The Prairie City/Burnt River boys will be in action next on Friday, Jan. 20, on the road against Huntington, then again on Saturday, Jan. 21, when they host Crane. Tipoff for the game against Crane is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.