OBSERVER File Photo by Jason Bower Panama’s Alex Barmore puts up a shot in the lane during last Friday’s Section VI Class D final against Forestville at Jamestown Community College’s Physical Education Complex.

Ever since the 2024-25 school classification numbers came out, Panama was expected to be the Section VI Class D boys basketball champion.

Now that the Panthers have made that a reality, the real work toward a New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship begins.

What hopefully becomes a three-game stretch to a title begins Saturday at 1:45 p.m. when Panama takes on Section V champion Fillmore in the Far West Regional at Rush-Henrietta High School.

“One of our goals going into the season, before it started, was to schedule some of the toughest people we could find. Cheektowaga, Falconer twice, we scrimmaged Fredonia, we scrimmaged Jamestown before playoffs started,” Panama head coach Ed Nelson said. “No doubt we wanted our mettle tested throughout the season. …. These kids have been playing this high level of basketball for a long time. Hopefully we can rely on that experience and keep the train rolling.”

The New York State Sportswriters Association’s third-ranked Class D team, Fillmore advanced to the state quarterfinal with a 74-38 over Jasper-Troupsburg in last weekend’s Rochester-area title game.

The Wildcats trailed 12-11 in the first quarter before ending the period on an 8-2 run. Another 11-2 run to end the second quarter gave Fillmore a 44-26 halftime advantage and the Wildcats won easily.

“It’s going to be a challenge for sure,” Nelson said. “We’re going to have to go to battle. When you get this far, that’s what you expect.”

Sophomore Jonah Bialek led Fillmore (20-3) with 22 points in the sectional final and is second on the team this season at 18.0 points per game.

Sophomore Cam Mucher leads the Wildcats in scoring at 19.2 points per game to go along with 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.9 steals. Senior JD Bialek averages 11.4 points and 8.5 rebounds per game; junior Isaiah Sisson averages 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game; and junior Jameson Rhett averages 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

“(Mulcher) is about 6-4 and is a really smooth player,” Nelson said. “The Bialeks’ dad is the Houghton men’s basketball coach. They are really fundamentally sound.”

The top-seeded Wildcats beat No. 8 Elba 71-47 in the sectional quarterfinals and No. 5 Avoca-Prattsburgh 88-40 in the semifinals.

“They’re kind of a little bit like us. They put some full-court pressure on you. I think they’re going to push the pace, but any team that tries to do that with us isn’t ready for our collective team speed,” Nelson said. “We are waiting for a team to play us man-to-man, and that’s what Fillmore looks like it’s going to do. They like to push the pace and shoot the perimeter ball. They like to live off second-chance shots, they’re really good on the offensive boards. That’s another thing that makes us good, if we control the boards we can get in transition and run. If we can do that, things are going to go well for us. If we give up second-chance shots, it might be a long night.”

Panama, the state’s top-ranked team, has coasted to the 12th sectional crown in program history with relative ease.

During the regular season, the Panthers’ only two losses were to Randolph — the state’s 10th-ranked Class C team — and to sectional Class C champion Westfield — which will be playing the 5:45 p.m. game Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School.

Panama (20-2) received a bye into the sectional semifinals where it took care of No. 4 Clymer 68-41. Last Friday against No. 2 Forestville, the Panthers led 42-9 at halftime on their way to a 83-38 victory.

Panama’s entire starting five — and basically anybody who sees action other than junior Michael Horton — is made up of seniors. Carter Brink leads Panama at 24.6 points per game to go along with 4.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game. Bryce Hinsdale averages 11.7 points, 4.4 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game; Alex Barmore averages 8.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game; and Jordan Mescall averages 8.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

“We’re going to rely on our senior leadership knowing that we’ve been on that floor before. Our last time at Rush-Henrietta was against Avoca-Prattsburgh (two years ago) and it didn’t go well for us,” Nelson said. “They were all seniors and we were a bunch of sophomores. Hopefully we can make some amends when we go up there this time.”

Neither team has ever won a state title, but Panama advanced to the final four twice, losing in the semifinals in both 2016 and 2019. Fillmore has four previous sectional championships, but has never won a Far West Regional crown to advance to the state final four.

“We kept the mantra to keep getting better every day. We had a talk today, that’s what great teams do,” Nelson said. “An old teacher, Mark Conroy, told me that. Good teams get sick of practicing, but great teams lock in, they’re disciplined and they take the next step to be great.

“That’s a trick this late in the season when you have one game and you wait a week,” Nelson added. “You go through a two-month stretch of playing a game a week then go back to back (at states).”