The postseason run for the Euclid Panthers basketball team came to an end last night in the district semi-final inside the McKinley field house as the Panthers fell to McKinley 60-80.

The Panthers went toe to toe with one of the best programs in the state of Ohio but just could not get over the hump on Wednesday night.  Euclid was aggressive early on as they attacked the rim and the offensive boards leading to easy buckets. Cam Smith and Jaden Wanton both had multiple put backs in the opening period as the Panthers showed the Bulldogs that they would not go down quietly. McKinley started the game hot from beyond the arc as their first 9 points all came courtesy of the three ball. Midway through the first period, Euclid was leading McKinley 7-6. McKinley would make 4 three pointers in the opening period to take a 16-11 lead into the second quarter.

The second quarter started strong for Euclid as they cut the deficit to 17-19 with just over 5:00 left in the quarter.  Then the shooting touch for the Panthers went cold.  McKinley was able to go on a 7-0 run in the middle of the quarter and pushed the lead to 26-17 with a few minutes remaining.  Euclid responded and was able to minimize the damage as Mike Patterson was fouled with .4 seconds left in the half and he converted both free throws to make the score 21-33 at halftime.  The 14-4 run to close the half by McKinley proved to be crucial in this game as it gave them a cushion to play with in the second half. Euclid only managed to connect on one three point try in the first half as McKinley made six threes.

As they have shown this postseason, the Panthers would not go away quietly.  On the first possession of the second half Jordan Rees buried a trip lto get the lead back to single digits at 24-33.  After a McKinley basket, Wanton would bury a triple of his own to cut the lead to 27-35. This would be the closest the Panthers would get the rest of the night.  As was the case most of the night, McKinley would respond with a run of their own. They would close the quarter on a 18-9 run and re-establish their lead at 36-53 heading into the final quarter. 

The fourth quarter opened up as the teams went end to end trading baskets as Euclid scrambled to try to create turnovers and get back into the game.  The. McKinley size advantage finally started to show in the fourth as all of McKinley's points in the fourth quarter came from inside the paint or at the free throw line.  After scoring just 4 points in the first three quarters combined, Clayton Cunningham found the shooting touch as he scored 14 in the fourth quarter, including a couple of threes. At the end of the game, the final score was 60-80 in favor of the Bulldogs.

Euclid was lead by Jaden Wanton with 18 points, Clayton Cunningham with 18 points, and Michael Patterson with 10 points.

Euclid finishes their season with an 8-9 overall record and a great post-season run which saw the Panthers knock of two teams seeded higher than them.