As Panther Valley junior point guard Rene Figueroa showed Tuesday night, a smaller player can cast a very large shadow.

Figueroa may be one of the smallest players on the court at any given time. However, his ability to handle and distribute the ball, and above all else, score, makes his impact quite significant.

Against Weatherly, the 5-7, 135-pound back-court talent scored 44 points, to go along with six assists, three steals and five rebounds to help lift the Panthers to their third-straight win, 77-63.

“He was amazing tonight,” Panther Valley head coach Patrick Crampsie said. “Not only with the 44 points, but he played every minute of the 32-minute game, he distributed the ball well, got the other guys involved, did a great job rebounding, and defensively, he made Weatherly’s guards have to work extra hard for everything they got. It was one of the most amazing performances I’ve seen by a PV guy in a while and he just did it all for us. He put us on his back.”

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Along with Tristan Blasko, Figueroa attributed for a pivotal 10-0 run at the end of the third frame to turn a 48-all tie with 1:41 remaining into a 58-48 lead heading into the last eight minutes.

“The end of the third is what changed things,” Crampsie said. “Our two main guys in Tristan and Rene, made some huge plays during that stretch to get us some separation and that was what got us over the top eventually.”

Two Blasko foul shots began the run, and he followed with a layup off an inbound seconds later. With 20 ticks left, Figueroa knifed in a pull-up trey, before sealing off the crucial stretch with a three-point play on a putback.

“That was the swing right there,” Weatherly head coach Corey Gerhart said. “Up to that point, we had battled back from a seven-point deficit, and then that happened. That hurt us because the kids had battled back so hard to tie it up, but that run put us in another big hole.”

In the first half, Figueroa made his presence felt, as he scored 17 of his team’s 32 points, while adding three assists. The Panthers clung to a 32-30 lead at the intermission, following a back-and-forth affair in the first half.

“We knew this game was going to be a battle,” Crampsie said. “Weatherly has a bunch of kids that can shoot, they’re much improved from last year, and they have some really nice players. They made us work for this one.”

The Wreckers kept pace with the Panthers for most of the game, as there were eight ties and 13 lead changes up until the 1:41 mark of the third frame.

However, following the 10-0 run to swing the momentum in favor of the Panthers, Figueroa went back to work in the fourth, as he scored 14 points to seal his team’s third win in four nights.

“I knew tonight, I would have to draw the defense into me, in order to dish it out to my big men,” Figueroa said.

“But I guess I just had the hot hand tonight. It was a big game for us to win and hopefully, we can continue to play with this same type of hype and intensity and keep things going.”

Along with Figueroa’s big night, Blasko followed with 16 points, while Erick Marchorro added eight.

For the Wreckers (1-2), freshman Scott Zoscin nailed four treys, en route to a team-high 17 points, Julian Miller added 11, while both Gabe Miller and Gary Buck notched 10 apiece.

IN GOOD COMPANY ... The 44 points scored by Figueroa put him in fourth place on the Panther Valley basketball list of most points scored in a single game. Just ahead of him are Christy Phillips (46, 1980), Jimmy Mikovich (45, 1986), and Marlene Basiago (45, 1972). Jimmy Trusa (44, 1973), Basiago and Phillips each scored 44 in other games.

SIZE DOES MATTER ... The taller Panthers utilized their inside edge to manhandle the Wreckers in the rebounding department, 37-19.

PANTHER VALLEY

Marchorro 2-2-2-8, Stilitino 0-0-0-0, Turner 1-0-0-3, Figueroa 12-15-20-44, Distler 0-0-0-0, Blasko 7-2-2-16, Perez 0-0-0-0, Sanchez 1-4-4-6. TOTALS: 23-23-28-77.

WEATHERLY

Moon 3-1-2-8, Buck 3-2-2-10, Yurchak 1-2-5-4, G. Miller 4-0-4-10, Zoscin 4-5-5-17, J. Miller 5-0-0-11, Knepper 0-0-1-0, Arthur 1-0-0-3, Derr 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-10-19-63.

Panther Vy. 16 16 26 19 - 77

Weatherly 15 15 18 15 - 63

Three pointers: Panther Valley - Figueroa 5, Marchorro 2, Turner 1; Weatherly - Zoscin 4, Buck 2, G. Miller 2, Arthur 1, Moon 1, J. Miller 1.