The Panthers led from start to finish but never shook off the Lumberjacks until the middle of the fourth quarter. Tupper Lake trailed 44-36 heading into the period, but Parishville-Hopkinton took control quickly with a five-point run that started with a three-pointer from Patrick Caringi and was followed by a pair of made foul shots by Lawson Snell.

The teams then traded baskets during the early stages of the final quarter, with Tupper Lake eventually closing its deficit to nine points thanks to a 6-2 run. Junior Noah Varden brought the ‘Jacks within single digits on a steal and a layup to cut the Panthers’ lead to 53-44 with 5:28 remaining, but Parishville-Hopkinton answered with a 7-0 run to pull away.

The Panthers took 37 shots from the free-throw line and connected on 21 of those attempts. They also had a strong performance on the offensive boards, which Tupper Lake coach Brian Bennett said played a major role in the contest.

“It came down to them executing on all the little things that we were not executing on,” Bennett said. “I think the biggest difference was offensive rebounding. They were getting third, fourth and fifth looks on possessions. That was a huge difference.

Grant Godin dribbles into the lane for Tupper Lake while Lawson Snell defends for the Panthers during the second half of Monday’s game. Also pictured for the Lumberjacks is Eli Kulzer, who scored a game-high 16 points. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“We put them on the foul line a lot,” Bennett added. “There are things I call the ‘not fun things’ that we didn’t do. Hitting threes, that’s fun. Setting screens and boxing out, those are the not fun things that you have to do. Those guys did what they needed to do and came out with the win.”

The Panthers rolled out to a 16-6 edge in the first period, and held a 34-21 advantage heading into halftime. Tupper Lake caught fire to start the third period and closed the gap to 38-33, but that’s as close as the hosts got the rest of the way.

Six players scored points for the Panthers in a balanced offensive effort. Lawson Snell and Harrison Snell paced the winners with 13 points apiece, Payton Snell and Burton Chevier added nine points each and Tanner Rosenbarker chipped in eight for Parishville-Hopkinton.

Sophomore Eli Kulzer led Tupper Lake with a game-high 16 points. Varden, a junior, added 13 points and sophomore Grant Godin tossed in 10 points in the setback.

Tupper Lake dropped to 1-1 in Northern Athletic Conference east division play with the loss and 2-3 overall. The victory was the first of the season for the Panthers, who improved to 1-2 overall.

Tupper Lake was coming off a third-place performance in the Adirondack Open tournament that took place over the weekend at Paul Smith’s College. The Lumberjacks downed Lake Placid 50-48 in the consolation game.

The Lumberjacks next play on Thursday, traveling to face Norwood-Norfolk. The Panthers also play on Thursday, hosting Colton-Pierrepont.