MAHANOY CITY – It was a good night for the Mahanoy Area girls basketball team.

It was a grand night for one of its standouts.

The Lady Bears stormed to a 65-47 win over Panther Valley, but the moment of the night belonged to senior guard Felicia Bro, who scored her 1,000th-career point during a 23-point performance — writing her name into the program’s storied history.

“It was quite an honor, and it couldn’t have happened if it weren’t for my teammates,” Bro said.

It wasn’t a great evening for the Panthers, but coach Rob Kovac believes better days are coming.

“We’ll be alright, I really feel so. It’s just going to take time, and I think by January we should be just fine,” Kovac said.

Mahanoy came out roaring, sprinting to a 17-6 first-quarter lead.

“Surprising. I didn’t expect that,” Mahanoy coach Tom Sheeler said of his team’s opener. “I didn’t expect Felicia to score 23 to get to her thousand…”

But she did.

The Bears broke an early tie with a 12-0 burst sparked by Ella Connolly, who owned the lane and scored 10 straight. Connolly finished with a game-high 24 points, pairing power with polish inside.

“We need them to do that,” Sheeler said of Connolly and Naomi Kowalick, who added seven points and rebounded well. “Overall, for a first game, not bad — but a little sloppy at times.”

Panther Valley made one push. Trailing 24-10, the Panthers ignited an 18-7 run to pull within 24-20 with 4:43 left in the half. Caroline Breslin drilled three 3-pointers in the stretch, while Ajete Gjoca buried another.

That was as close as it got.

Bro answered with a three, Connolly scored on a feed from Kowalick, and the Bears stretched the lead to 38-24 at halftime.

“Bro’s a nice basketball player — it’s not what she does scoring-wise, but what she creates for other players,” Kovac said. “We have to be smarter. Too many turnovers early, and they were unforced.”

Mahanoy continued to control the pace, leading 59-40 after three, and never allowed Panther Valley to threaten again.

“In spite of our problems, I thought we had some pretty good shots,” Kovac continued. “Defensively, we struggled to get spots against them — and so will a lot of teams. They have three really, really good basketball players. Before the season started, I was telling people that Mahanoy is the dark horse.”

Opening night suggested they’re more than that — they look like a contender.

QUOTEABLE ... “Coach Sheeler is going to develop complementary players to go along with those three pretty good kids, and when they come along, they’re going to be a really good basketball team.” — Kovac

HEADY PLAYERS ... Mahanoy players know how to get the rebounds and they know what to do with it, with Connolly and Kowalick making it tough on the boards. Mahanoy had a total of 43 rebounds, PV 36. The Panthers were led by Orsulak’s 10 and Aliciana Aponte’s 8. Keep an eye on Aponte, she’s a freshman and a growing star. Orsulak also pulled down 12 rebounds, nearly finishing with a double-double.

BY THE NUMBERS ... PV committed 21 turnovers, while Mahanoy had 15. The Panthers went 13-for-42 from the floor; the Bears were 25-of-46.

TEAM LEADERS ... Gjoca led PV with 11 points, Breslin tossed in 10 and Lucy Kocha had 9.

PANTHER VALLEY

A. Gjoca 3-2-4-11, C. Breslin 3-1-2-10, Orsulak 2-5-12-9, Kocha 2-5-8-9, Aponte 3-1-2-7, Blazosky 0-1-2-1, Padora 0-0-0-0, Prudente 0-0-0-0, Carrasquillo 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-15-30-47.

MAHANOY AREA

Bro 6-7-8-23, Connolly 11-2-3-24, Haughney 2-0-0-4, L. Carl 2-0-1-4, Kowalick 3-0-0-7, Christian 1-1-4-3, Wonsock 0-0-0-0, Manley 0-0-0-0, Zubris 0-0-0-0, Collado 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-10-16-65.

Panther Valley 6 18 16 7 – 47

Mahanoy Area 17 21 21 6 – 65

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Gjoca 3, Breslin 3. Mahanoy Area - Bro 5.

Records: Panther Valley (0-1); Mahanoy (1-0)