The Whitehall Zephyrs had a 14-point lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Pocono Mountain West Panthers pressured their way to a 69-60 District XI Class 5A semifinal victory on Feb. 28 at Pleasant Valley High School.

“We thought we had a good chance to win the game going in, and we competed our tails off, and I couldn’t be more proud of these kids,” said Whitehall coach Jeff Jones. “They’re disappointed after the game, and I said, ‘This is the way the season’s supposed to end, where you’re in the locker room, and you’re disappointed.’ We’ve had situations the last couple years where we weren’t a playoff team, and the last game ends, and you know it’s the last game.”

Whitehall’s first quarter offense against Pocono Mountain West was almost a carbon copy of its first quarter against East Stroudsburg North in the district quarterfinal.

In addition, the Zephyrs turned up the pressure from the jump including two huge blocks by Whitehall center AJ Hines that led to a 3-pointer by Sebastian Orochena and another by Ethan Ringenberger.

Whitehall senior Gavin Kneller entered the game and delivered an impactful 3 before the quarter’s end.

The Panthers started to claw their way back early in the second quarter with Hines and Orochena on the bench in the opening minutes, but the Zephyrs were able to stay ahead on buckets by Luke Keppel (25 points), Ringenberger (11 points), and Kneller (7 points) and headed to the locker room up, 37-31.

The teams traded seven-point runs in the third quarter, and Whitehall led, 50-46, with the Panthers closing the gap.

Then, with 4:35 remaining in the game, Kyon Coles made it a 53-53 tie, and Julian Pagan (18 points) put West in the lead on a 3-pointer at 4:14.

Keppel answered right back for the Zephyrs with a 3, but West scored three consecutive times, one on a steal, and turned the game upside down, leading 63-56.

“It’s continuous pressure,” said Jones regarding the turning point of the game. “I thought, for the most part, we handled things pretty well. It just keeps coming in waves at you. I feel badly for the officials. It’s a tough game to officiate because there was a lot of holding and a lot of grabbing going on throughout that game. I thought our kids handled it very maturely and very well. I’m proud of how they played. I’m proud of how they conducted themselves as well.”

Whitehall’s season ended with a district tournament berth and a record of 12-12.

“Great season,” Jones said. “At one point, I looked out there, and we had two freshmen on the floor and a sophomore, and we graduate two seniors. Certainly, we’ll miss those two seniors (Kneller and Aiden Parvel), but we have a ton of experience now coming back, a ton of kids who are going to be hungry. They got a taste of this.”