Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Luke Carter of the Panthers puts his head down for an inside dribble drive against the Brownsboro Bears Jan. 23 in Mabank.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Mabank’s Cullen McFaul muscles his way inside for a layup against Brownsboro during his team’s 58-45 win in District 15-4A.

MABANK—The Mabank Panthers boys’ basketball team took advantage of an earlier start to beat the sleet (and the accompanying slick streets) that approached the Cedar Creek Lake area Jan. 23 to pounce on the Brownsboro Bears in District 15-4A play, winning 58-45 to even Mabank’s District record to 3-3 before Jan. 28’s scheduled contest at Canton.
Mabank took an 8-5 lead with 3:34 left in the first period with Cullen McFaul’s layup, followed later by a Carter Sims jumper that built a 10-7 Panther advantage. McFaul made another basket late in the first period to give the Panthers a 12-9 lead, but Brownsboro cut that margin to 12-11 at the end of the first period.
In the second period, Mabank’s Luke Carter hit a 3-pointer to give the Panthers a 21-15 lead, but Brownsboro trimmed that to 21-19 before two Mabank buckets and a McFaul free throw moved the Mabank margin to 25-19. Then, with 50 seconds remaining in the first half, Angel Lara grabbed an offensive rebound and followed with a bucket to extend that lead to 27-19. Brownsboro followed with an offensive foul, leaving the halftime score at 27-19 in favor of the Panthers.
In the third period, Brownsboro cut the Mabank lead to 29-23. After a Panther timeout, Brody Stephen swished a 3-pointer to give Mabank a 32-23 advantage, then 20 seconds later, Stephen nailed another 3-pointer to move the Mabank winning margin to 35-23. After the Panthers led 40-31 entering the fourth period, Mabank outscored Brownsboro 18-14 to post the 13-point win.