The postseason trail began at home Tuesday evening for Class 2A No. 3 Panorama Panthers girls basketball team (21-1 overall). The Panthers welcomed the Van Meter Bulldogs to Panora last night for a quarterfinal round matchup in the Class 2A Region 6 bracket. Balanced scoring mixed with stifling defense combined to help Panorama run by Van Meter in their third meeting of the season, 51-31.

Panorama trailed 12-10 after the first quarter before outscoring Van Meter 10-5 in the second quarter for a 20-17 halftime lead. The Panthers outscored the Bulldogs 16-5 in the third quarter and 15-9 in the final quarter for a 51-31 victory. After the game, Panorama head girls basketball coach Dan Druivenga had a feeling Van Meter would be a tough opponent based on the number of times they’ve seen each other over the past 24 months. “This is the sixth time we’ve played (Van Meter) in two years.” Druivenga said, “They pretty much know what we are going to do and we kind of know what they are going to do. We thought it’d be a low scoring ball game and whoever got to the free throw line the most would probably win.”

Panorama shot 27 free throw attempts on the evening, making 19 of them. Van Meter went three of four from the line. Junior Bailey Beckman led Panorama’s scoring attack with 16 points, converting 10 of 12 free throw attempts. Junior Morgan Johnk chipped in eight points while Devyn Kemble and Hope Wilderman added seven points each. The victory improves Panorama’s overall record to 21-1 and is their 20th win in a row. The Panthers will face off against Martensdale St Mary’s in Friday’s semifinal game at Panorama High School. The Blue Devils edged the Pleasantville Trojans in their quarterfinal matchup, 46-42. Listen to live play by play coverage of Panorama girls basketball this Friday night on True Country K 107.9.