CHAMPAIGN — After seeing his team get outscored by 29 points in the second half of a blowout loss against St. Thomas More on Thursday, Paxton-Buckley-Loda varsity girls’ basketball coach Travis Duley felt he had reason to question the heart and toughness of the Panthers.

So he did just that, challenging his squad to step up and prove itself Saturday against Watseka in the third-place game of the Sangamon Valley Conference tournament at Parkland College. It took 24 minutes of game action before the Panthers (14-6) got into full gear — longer than Duley would’ve liked — but he got the result he wanted: a 52-40 win against what he called a “quality” Warriors (15-8) team.

“It was a big motivational win for us to prove we all do have the heart,” said PBL guard Cheyenne Weber, who finished with a game-high 22 points and six steals.

Duley’s concern entering Saturday stemmed from what was arguably the Panthers’ worst overall half of the season on Thursday, inarguably their worst offensive half of the year. Trailing 27-23 at halftime against top-seeded St. Thomas More in the SVC semifinals at Momence, PBL scored just five points in the game’s final 16 minutes of an eventual 61-28 loss.

“We were right there at halftime, and we all felt like — even the players — the heart and energy was not there in the second half of that game,” Duley said of a game that saw Weber lead PBL with 12 points. “So I was really starting to question whether the heart was there. Were they in it?”

The answer Saturday: Yes, eventually.

The Panthers started slow, falling behind by 13 points early in the second quarter as Warriors sophomore guard Devin Curry caught fire, scoring 14 points in the game’s first 10 minutes. When asked later, Duley said he a little worried at that point.

But a shrewd coaching move by Duley soon changed the game’s course. Coming out of halftime, PBL switched to a triangle-and-two defense that focused on Curry and often fellow Warriors guard Mariah Carroll. It proved to be the difference in the game.

Chased by a rotating cast of defenders, Curry didn’t score in the final 22-plus minutes of play. With no other outside threats for Watseka and with sisters Erin Lemley (nine points, six rebounds) and Andi Lemley (four points, eight rebounds) playing solid down low, PBL cut an eight-point halftime deficit to six entering the fourth quarter, then stormed past Watseka with a 23-5 run to pull away.

“We played good defense and started getting revved up because we had a couple back-to-back shots that got us to see we could come out with the win,” Weber said.

“As we looked at it, they really only had two or three kids scoring in the first half,” Duley added of the defensive adjustment. “We thought if we could go to a triangle-and-two in order to keep people in the lane and take away Curry’s layups, yet at the same time get someone out in her face to take away her 3-pointers, that would do better than the man-to-man did. We adjusted, and the kids did a great job. We’ve done it a couple times on the fly, but it’s not anything we practiced a lot.”

As the PBL defense locked down Watseka late, Weber scored 11 fourth-quarter points to help the Panthers pull away.

“She took charge and started showing leadership. She did an awesome job,” said Duley, who then noted the significance of the win.

“I do believe we improved. We played without a key player (Amanda Ypya, sidelined with a sprained ankle) and they that heart, to get down early in the game and fight back and take control at the end. That heart and energy is going to make up for a lot of deficiencies.”

Catlyn Ekstrom and Kandace Hofer each chipped in with eight points apiece for the Panthers, and Duley thought PBL did the small things better, such as making 14 of 17 free throws.

Panthers get fourth seed at regionals

From the moment regional assignments came out more than a month ago, PBL knew it wouldn’t have an easy draw. That much proved to be true when the regional pairings were announced last week.

Sitting at a pretty 14-6, the Panthers nonetheless received the fourth seed in the seven-team St. Thomas More Regional, which begins Feb. 6. PBL will play Oakwood that night at 7:30 p.m. in Champaign. Should they win, the Panthers would advance to a Feb. 9 semifinal against the host Sabers at 6 p.m. St. Thomas More has defeated PBL twice, by 33 points each time.

If the seeds hold true in the other half of the bracket, second-seeded St. Joe-Ogden and third-seeded Bismarck-Henning would meet in the other semifinal on Feb. 9. The championship game is slated for Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m.

For comparison’s sake, Momence and Watseka received the second and third seeds, respectively in the Watseka Regional. PBL has a similar record as those teams and beat each of them in the SVC tournament recently, but the depth of the St. Thomas More Regional leaves a tougher road for the Panthers.