Hack-a-Hack: Big second half from Landyn Hack edges Panhandle past Boys Ranch
PANHANDLE — Landyn Hack was the Amarillo Globe-News Offensive Player of the Year this season in football. He recently committed to play football for West Texas A&M University. He's been one of the top football players in the Panhandle the past two years.
On Friday night, however, it was his basketball team that needed him the most.
Once again, Hack stepped up in a District 3-2A game against Boys Ranch.
Hack opened the second half with a 6-0 run of his own and made three crucial free throws in the final two minutes to lead the Panthers to a comeback 42-34 victory over the Roughriders.
Early on, it was the Panthers who were on the rough ride.
With 1:14 left in the first quarter, Deg Barnett drained a three-pointer for Boys Ranch to put them up 10-9. By the midway point, the Roughriders held a 17-15 lead.
Hack opened the second half with three unanswered baskets to put Panhandle up and jumpstarted the offense.
"Coming out at first was rough," said Hack, who helped Panhandle improve to 17-6 overall and 4-1 in district. "We were kind of playing them light for the reputation that they have and that was bad on our part. Coming into halftime we got a nice little ripping and a fire came out from underneath us. We settled it out in the second half."
Boys Ranch's Xavier Wheeler managed to tie the game twice in the final two minutes of the third quarter, but Wesley Kuehler's layup gave Panhandle a 27-25 edge entering the final quarter of play.
The Panthers increased their lead to eight with three minutes to go, but Isaiah Brown's layup cut the BR deficit to 35-31 with just 2:2 remaining on the clock. A pair of free throws by Cuyler Mize and Hack's first successful foul shot of the game returned the lead to seven. While Wheeler shaved the deficit back to five, Hack sunk a pair of free throws and the Panthers escaped with a victory.
Hack finished with 19 points, while Broxton Robinson finished with 10.
For the Roughriders (9-12, 1-4), there were plenty of positives to take away.
Wheeler and Grant Blackwell each finished with 12 points they lead the bulk of the first half. The fight they showed late was admirable and the growth has been apparent, even if they're not there just yet.
"We've got to find our identity in the second half (of district)," Boys Ranch coach DP Sims said. "We lost the lead the last game as well as this one. We're just trying to work on ourselves, but we're playing good defensively. Once we get our offense going, we'll be a lot better and get the results that we want."
Boys Ranch will host Bovina on Tuesday, while Panhandle will visit Vega. Both games are set for 7:30 p.m.
Panhandle (17-6, 4-1)
Wesley Kuehler 1-2, 0-0, 2; Dylan Pohlmeier 1-4, 2-2, 5; Broxton Robinson 5-11, 0-2, 10; Landyn Hack 8-15, 3-8, 19; Cuyler Mize 0-3, 2-4, 2; Korbin Preston 1-1, 0-0, 2. Totals 16-36, 7-16, 42.
Boys Ranch (9-12, 1-4)
David Thomas 0-4, 0-0, 0; Deg Barnett 1-2, 0-0, 2; Ethan Rex 0-2, 0-0, 0; Miles Groce 0-2, 0-0, 0; Xavier Wheeler 6-14, 0-0, 12; Isaiah Brown 3-8, 1-2, 8; Grant Blackwell 4-7, 4-4, 12. Totals 14-39, 5-6, 34.
Halftime — Panhandle 17, Boys Ranch 14.
3-Point Goals — Panhandle 1 (Dylan Pohlmeier); Boys Ranch 1 (Isaiah Brown)
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Hack-a-Hack: Big second half from Landyn Hack edges Panhandle past Boys Ranch
