SAN ANTONIO — There always seemed to be a little extra pushing the Panhandle boys basketball team to the finish line.
The Panthers played like a team of destiny with tape on their wrists that spelled out ‘H4H’ an abbreviation for Hope for Hunsley. The sentiment honored coach Josh Strickland’s daughter Hunsley, who died in 2021 at 6 year’s old after a battle with Fanconi Anemia, a rare blood disorder.
“She loved basketball as much as her dad does,” an emotional Josh Strickland said after the win. “As much as her family. She never missed a game and was always on the bench. She passed away when she was six. I am not going to deny or lie to anyone about the situation. … I get to call her my angel, and she guided this entire thing, there is no doubt about it.”
Even without the extensive state tournament experience that the Panhandle girls basketball team has, the Panthers marched into the Alamodome and played like a team accustomed to the stage in earning a 61-58 win against San Augustine.
After surviving the landmines in Region I — most notably a double-overtime win against Hale Center in the area round — Panhandle took shot after shot from San Augustine but never let the Wolves’ momentum completely take over the game.
San Augustine briefly led early in the third quarter after one of many quick strike runs, but the Panthers played with poise and were steady in leading for 28 of the team’s 32 minutes.
“This team has a special quality,” Strickland said. “They never wavered, they just haven’t. I can breathe a little bit, and I can tell you we haven’t lost in the calendar year 2026. They never deviated from what the game plan is. We didn’t even make adjustments. We just talked about what I had written on the board about how we were going to win this game and reminded them. We made plays down the stretch.”
Caden Armes was named the championship game MVP after scoring 17 points, adding five assists and four rebounds, as all five starters scored at least nine points.
Landen Andrews and Broxton Robinson strung together seven straight points after San Augustine seized the lead in the third quarter and then Andrews hit a backbreaking 3-pointer in the waning seconds to squash the Wolves momentum.
Panhandle never gave back the lead.
Armes said that even though the girls team was ranked No. 1, as a state basketball blueblood, he was content coming into the postseason and state tournament unheralded. The team said gave them a chip on the shoulder.
“We weren’t ranked all year,” Armes said. “I think that is way better being an underdog because this feels amazing. We all just believed in each other. I wouldn’t want to end my career any other way.”
Luke Schmucker’s father Rob is the girls basketball coach and said he had an extra special embrace with him after the game a week after the Ettes captured the girls state title for the third time in program history and first since 2017.
“I had a cool embrace with him at the end of the game and he told me you finally did it,” Luke Schmucker said. “I told him since they won last week, I couldn’t let them show me up. I had to go get another one for the family.
“I didn’t want to travel all the way to San Antonio to get second place. At the state semifinals in Abilene, we packed for two days because we were planning on going to state in San Antonio. Having that chip on our shoulder helped.”
Strickland said repeatedly that the Panthers had an ‘it factor’ that was unmistakable and that this season felt different and credited assistant coaches Tyler Richardson, Doug Tipton and James Whitt for their prep work.
“I knew when we began this thing, it felt different,” Strickland said. “Our demeanor, our approach it felt different. These guys don’t like me when it is time for scouting report because it is hours of preparation. Coach Richardson, coach Tip and Whitt, they sacrifice a lot. We watch a lot of film and pick up a kit tendencies and these guys do a lot locking in to take away what they do best. That showed up tonight.”
Panhandle became the first school since Lipan in 2023 to capture boys and girls state titles in basketball in the same season.
“People always say where they are from is the best,” Strickland said. “But right now in Panhandle, Texas we know honestly get to say that.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Panhandle boys basketball honors coach’s daughter, nets program’s first state title
Reporting by Quinton Martinez, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
