Panther Valley got a huge assist Friday night.

However, it wasn't from any of the Panther players and it didn't happen during the game.Instead, Mother Nature dished off a snow storm on Thursday, which canceled school, thus leaving Shenandoah Valley without its head coach and four of its five starters for one more game (all were serving the final day of their school-imposed three-day suspensions for an incident that took place on a bus earlier in the season).Had school been in-session on Thursday, all were due back for last night's game. However, Panther Valley took advantage of the assist and scored its first win of the season with a 50-49 overtime victory over the Blue Devils."We knew they were short-handed, so that obviously hurt them depth-wise, but overall it was an ugly game," stated Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. "Our decision making was very poor, which was frustrating. Shenandoah's kids fought hard and McCole's a helluva player, but we were fortunate to come up with one more play at the end."While Panther Valley started fast with an 8-0 lead, the Blue Devils came firing back. Ian McCole, the lone Shenandoah starter playing last night, led his team to a 30-29 halftime lead, as he converted 13-of-13 free throws in the second quarter and scored half of his team's first half points (15).After a sloppy third frame, which saw Panther Valley commit six of its game-high 17 turnovers, the Panthers were still trailing by just one point heading into the fourth quarter.Two Ethan Vermillion three-pointers gave the Panthers a three-point lead (42-39) with just over three minutes remaining. The Panthers failed to ice the game by making just two of their six free throw attempts in the final 90 seconds, which gave Shenandoah life. With five seconds remaining, McCole buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to send the game into overtime tied at 44-44.In the extra session, Shenandoah made good on only one of its three shot attempts, while the Panthers shot just 1-for-6 from the field. Helping Panther Valley's cause was McCole fouling out with 2:50 left in overtime. From that point, Panther Valley outscored the Blue Devils 4-3. After Ricardo Chagolla tied the game at 49-49 with his third trey of the game with 26-ticks left, Panther Valley's Chad Dubosky sunk one of two free throws with nine seconds on the clock for the one-point led. Shenandoah inbounded the ball from halfcourt with 5.3 seconds remaining, but was never able to get off a shot."It's obviously our first win, so we're happy about that, but I'm not happy where we're at right now as a team," concluded Crampsie. "I thought there was some regression from the weekend and the way we played tonight was not what I was hoping for. All that being said, wins are hard to come by, especially in Division 1 of the Schuylkill League, so when we manage to get one, we have to enjoy it."Chad Dubosky led Panther Valley (1-2) with 13 points, while Matt Hudicka chipped in with 10. Tristan Blasko also added eight points with 10 rebounds for the Panthers.McCole's 22 points paced Shenandoah Valley (0-3).SHENANDOAH VALLEYI. McCole 4-13-14-22, Creasy 1-0-2-3, Chagolla 5-2-4-15, Allegretta 0-1-2-1, Cabrera 1-3-4-5, White 1-1-3-3, Uholik 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-20-29-49.PANTHER VALLEYKeo 0-0-0-0, Dubosky 5-3-6-13, Vermillion 3-0-0-8, Stanko 0-0-2-0, Micholik 2-0-0-5, Nase 0-2-5-2, Miller 2-0-0-4, Hudicka 3-2-2-10, Blasko 3-2-5-8. TOTALS: 18-9-20-50.Shenandoah 10 20 5 9 5 - 49Panther Vy. 14 15 5 10 6 - 50Three-Pointers: Shenandoah Valley - Chagolla 3, I. McCole 1, Creasy 1; Panther Valley - Vermillion 2, Hudicka 2, MIcholik 1.