Panther Valley head coach Brad Hurley learned a lot about the toughness of his squad on opening night.

Weatherly, behind first-year head coach Kevin Kringe, does not shy away from the fullcourt pressure defense. In fact, the Lady Wreckers ran that exhausting, harrassing defense for the full 32 minutes in its Schuylkill League game against the Lady Panthers.Panther Valley had to earn every inch of its thrilling 34-32 victory in a game where neither team ever had a lead greater than one possession."We wanted to come out here and compete," said Hurley. "We wanted to get off to a good start and we knew we had a chance to at the beginning of the year with the first seven or eight games on the schedule and we did tonight."Weatherly actually won the turnover battle, but shot poorly from the line (5-for-14) and missed a few uncontested shots late in the game."We want to create chaos and that's what we do (defensively)," explained Kringe. "We want to wear teams down and create some turnovers. It just wasn't enough tonight. A lot could have gone either way, but you have to credit Panther Valley in doing a great job."Panther Valley was extremely effective when it broke the press and was able to set up in its halfcourt offense. Taylor Vance shined in Hurley's offensive scheme, contributing a dozen points."She has been one of the best players I've ever worked with in terms of work ethic," Hurley said. "Taylor is doing things on the court that she couldn't dream of doing last season. She was aggressive last year, but now she has the ability to catch, make a move, and finish. It's a great thing for me to see her do some of those things."Macey Markovich also provided a huge spark for Panther Valley, as she scored all of her 15 points from beyond the arc."That's her forte and that's what she's going to do," explained Hurley. "She really is one of the best shooters explained Hurley. "She really is one of the best shooters in this league, there's no doubt about it. She made the big shots and extended the defense. They lost her a few times and she made them pay."Despite the loss, Shelby Berger led the way for Weatherly with 10 points and a ton of defensive effort."I knew the minute I saw her play she would be a great player," Kringe said of Berger. "She's quick enough to be a guard, but athletic enough to be a forward. She's one of our best shooters too."Panther Valley displayed a ton of toughness in the final minute of the contest.The sequence involved the Panthers breaking the tenacious Weatherly press one last time and earning points at the foul line immediately after doing so. Leading by a basket, Panther Valley then got a huge stop on the ensuing Weatherly possession as Megan Marouchoc and freshman point guard Christina Dacey were first to the floor to win a "50-50" ball which ended the game and sealed the deal.Hurley credited Marouchoc and Dacey with giving great efforts on both ends of the floor and said that effort went a long way towards the victory."We needed to get some confidence," said Hurley. "When you get that first win, you're heading into the next one with a confident and better basketball team."Despite the loss, Kringe likes what he has seen from his team early in the season."I have a vision for our program to be playing in the Schuylkill League playoffs at Martz Hall one day," said Kringe. "I told the seniors it's important for them to set the table for this program and they will be remembered for it."This team is doing everything I ask them to do. We're one or two plays away from being 2-0 instead of a very good team that is 0-2."WEATHERLYHeister 3-0-0-6, Parker 5-0-4-10, Berger 2-2-4-7, L. Hartz 2-3-6-7, S. Hartz 1-0-0-2, Gildt 0-0-0-0, Strizak 0-0-0-0, Cararella 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-5-14-32PANTHER VALLEYMarouchoc 2-0-0-4, Vance 6-0-0-12, Corby 0-0-2-0, Smith 0-0-2-0, Picht 0-0-0-0, Markovich 5-0-0-15, Dacey 1-1-2-. TOTALS: 14-1-6-34Weatherly 10 11 6 5 - 32Panther Valley 9 12 7 6 - 34Three-pointers: W - Berger 1; PV - Markovich 5