The Panthers fell to McHenry on Tuesday night, 76-72. Trailing by double figures out of the gates made it an uphill climb after dropping a few Skyway games in recent weeks.

Despite the early struggles, the Panthers only trailed by one at halftime. Xavier Spencer led the way in the loss, dropping a team-high 14 points.

"We have the talent and firepower to compete with anyone, and because of this, our guys are able to remain confident throughout the runs of our opponent. It is just a matter of all five guys on the floor being on the same page," said head coach Jon Rush. 

Three Panthers reached double figures, with Manny Rodriguez dropping 12 points and Kyren Gardner earning a productive 10 points off the bench. 

Making strides and improving from the charity stripe will be something coach Rush wants out of his team. The Panthers went to the line 31 times on the night but only converted 15 of them.

Gardner made nine trips to the line and made two of his attempts. In close games, opportunities are often limited. The Panthers had their shots and could not get enough of them to fall.

"Getting to the paint isn't a problem of ours. It's making the defense pay once we've done the hard part. We have to do a much better job of scoring around the rim to keep teams honest. The free throw margin alone could've been the difference in the game with us missing 16," said Rush. 

The loss dropped the Panthers to to 4-5 in Skyway play, now tied with McHenry for fifth. Bouncing back will be a requirement and a challenging task with their Thursday road trip to Prairie State looming.

Prairie State and Morton College put on a clinic during their January 17th meeting in Cicero. Despite falling short in a 90-88 finish, the Panthers have proven they can hang with any team in the Skyway.

Finding a way to finish strong and coming out with a faster pace of play is what coach Rush has been preaching to his team.

"We need to play at a faster pace with more tempo. We have not put enough pressure on teams in transition," said Rush. 

Following their road date with Prairie State, the Panthers have four games left on the docket. Three of the four are home games at the Henry J. Vais Gymnasium, with their lone road game coming up against Moraine Valley. 

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