On Wednesday, Pinnacle took to the floor against the No. 7 Wendover Wildcats in Richfield at the 1A State Championships. The Panthers started out slow and even though they tried to keep it close down the stretch they couldn’t overcome the deficit falling to the Wildcats 69-39.

Pinnacle earned the No. 10 spot in the RPI turning in a 17-6 overall record which included a 7-1 mark in Region 23 play.

In the contest with Wendover, the Panthers came out ice cold in the first quarter putting up just a single point, the Wildcats showed no mercy putting up 17 and carrying a 39-12 lead into the locker room at halftime.

In half number two, the Panthers would come out with some fight putting up 12 in the third quarter cutting the Wildcat lead to 50-24.

In the fourth, Pinnacle tried to keep up their momentum from the previous quarter putting another 15 points on the board as Wendover scored another 19 closing out the Panthers and moving into the quarterfinals.

For Pinnacle Ryker Howell led the way with 18 in the game with a pair of rebounds. Cole Barton had nine and 10 boards and Jonathan Kessler added nine with three boards and three assists.

The Panthers now fall into the consolation bracket where they will face, the Green River Pirates.

The Pirates fell in their game to No. 2 Manilla, 75-24.

In the regular season, Pinnacle came out on top in both contests, the most recent being a double overtime thriller on the Pirates home floor, 69-62.

The Panthers and Pirates tip-off tonight at 7, at Richfield High School.