Cary High’s Kevin Windley drained a clutch 3-pointer with less than six minutes to go Thursday against Panther Creek, igniting the home crowd and cutting the Catamounts’ lead to 38-32.

At that point, the momentum seemed like it might be swinging back in the Imps’ direction in a game where Cary fell behind by more than 10 several times.

Then, almost instantaneously, Panther Creek’s Earnest Ross showed why he’s the Catamounts’ go-to guy in the fourth quarter.

Ross scored five straight points to spark an 11-point Panther Creek run over the next four minutes that put the Imps away for good in a 49-33 PCHS victory. Including scoring nine of Panther Creek’s last 13 points, Ross notched a game-high 21 points to lead the Catamounts (13-3, 5-1).

“He’s done that consistently for us late in games. He’s had some big fourth quarters,” Panther Creek coach L.J. Hepp said. “That’s who he is. And that’s something we don’t necessarily want to depend on, but it’s sure nice to have.”

So is the Catamounts’ size advantage. According to the Panther Creek roster, it sports four players who are 6-foot-4 or taller. Cary (7-8, 2-4), meanwhile, lists no player taller than 6-3.

“When they’re big inside, you’ve got to make outside shots and we didn’t do that tonight,” said Cary coach Allan Gustafson.

Not that the Imps didn’t bring their physical brand of ball, albeit a bit late. The Imps turned up the pressure physically in the third quarter, but it was after a first half where Gustafson said Cary lacked intensity as it fell into a 12-1 hole late in the first quarter.

Though the Imps put together a few nice runs in the first half to trim Panther Creek’s lead, it wasn’t until the third quarter that Cary started playing the scrappy, hard-nosed basketball Gustafson expects.

“We didn’t start the game with the type of intensity we expect from our players and program. We’ve always been a hustle program; we’ve always been a blue-collar program,” Gustafson said. “I did think in the second half we competed much better and I appreciate that.”

But much like the game at Apex less than a week before, the Imps made some nice second-half runs after falling behind by double-digits, but simply couldn’t string one big enough to steal the lead.

“Once you get down by double-digits, you spend so much energy coming back,” said Cary guard Taylor Payne. “We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Not to take away anything from Panther Creek, though. Cary certainly played tougher in the second half, but the Catamounts never really lost control of the game’s tempo, as they never allowed the Imps within five.

“I thought we did a better job of handling the press in the second half,” Hepp said. “And we executed offensively and that’s something with a young group, they tend to rely on their skills and ability, and I think we executed well in the fourth quarter.”