PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — For the William T. Dwyer Community High School Panthers, it's a long road back to the state championship game.
Dwyer basketball fans are excited to see what's in store but know the Panthers will be tested this season.
The challenge began Saturday night as the Panthers played host to Atlantic Community High School in their first district game. It proved to be a tough test.
Atlantic's Andrew Pandol helped the Eagles take a 6-point lead in the first period.
But with less than a minute to go, Bobby Gilbert III put away the midrange jumper to cut the lead to 4.
Then in the second period, the Panthers found success from behind the arc. Tamari Reed put the game away with his 3-pointer as the Panthers won 78-68.
"We're taking it one game at a time," Dwyer head coach Fred Ross said. "We've got a lot of new pieces that we're kind of, you know, putting into place. … Atlantic came in and they played extremely hard. This was a good test for us."
The Panthers improved to 8-1 and are one game closer to reclaiming the state title.