By Taylor Penn
Staff Writer
Van Alstyne was off on Tuesday night but played host to an athletic Commerce basketball team on Friday evening. The lead changed hands quite a few times throughout the course of the ballgame, but, after a big fourth quarter from Van Alstyne’s CJ White, the Panthers procured a pivotal district win over the visiting Commerce Tigers, 59-56, on Friday night. White registered a double-double against the Tigers, finishing with 10 points and a team-high 15 rebounds. The Junior big man has made several key contributions throughout the season, but none bigger than his performance on Friday night. White came down with several big rebounds against the Tigers and also shot 71% from the floor.

Senior Michael Sorrels added another stellar performance to his already impressive senior season, finishing with a team-leading 25 points. Sorrels also pitched in six rebounds and three blocks. Logan Siedelmann stroked a three-ball to start scoring off for the Panthers before taking a steal all the way to the bank to break a 7-7 tie later in the first quarter. Siedelmann finished the contest with 11 points, seven rebounds, and a block. Turnovers haunted Van Alstyne in the second quarter as the Panthers simply did not take care of the ball. Defensively, Van Alstyne did not seem to have an answer for Commerce’s TJ Pannel, who was able to score every which way. Pannel finished the matchup with a game-high 31 points, 22 of which came in the first half. Commerce hit a three moments before the first half buzzer sounded and the Tigers held onto a three point lead at halftime.

The Tigers knocked down several treys down the stretch in the third quarter to put some distance between themselves and the Panthers.

However, Sorrels kept Van Alstyne in the game as he scored a flurry of points to close out the quarter, nipping the deficit to only seven points heading into the fourth. Senior Mark Davis cut what was once a double-digit second half lead for Commerce to just one point as he sank a jumper with 6:30 left to play.

Davis played well against the Tigers, chipping in nine points and three assists. The game was back-and-forth in the final quarter of play, but Van Alstyne went to the line ahead by two with only 16 seconds remaining. Davis knocked down one of two at the charity stripe to give the Panthers a three point lead, which they would not relinquish as they walked away with a huge district win. The Panthers will travel to Anna on Friday night to take on the Coyotes. The game will start at 7 PM.