By Andy Walter

WOODSIDE — The last time Polytech High’s boys’ basketball team played a state tournament game, the Panthers were on the big stage of the Carpenter Center, battling for a state title in 2015.

The scene was considerably different on Tuesday night.

When Polytech returned to the state tourney, there was just a small crowd — because of the pandemic — watching a pair of squads that had been through mostly tough seasons.

But that didn’t mean the No. 26 Panthers still weren’t disappointed to drop a 33-30 decision to No. 39 Glasgow in the opening round of the DIAA boys’ basketball state tourney.

Polytech couldn’t hang on to a six-point, third-quarter lead as the Dragons took control in the final minutes.

The low-scoring victory sends Glasgow (3-10) to a second-round matchup with seventh-seeded St. Elizabeth on Thursday night.

“I was pretty excited,” Polytech sophomore Kyle Gamber said about playing in the tourney. “We were hoping to get as far as we could. ... We just couldn’t find our momentum, I guess.”

“We were very happy that things worked out where everybody could get in,” said coach John Pierce. “We were on a four-game winning streak.”

The Panthers (6-7) had reason to be optimistic because of that winning streak. And Polytech was in good shape when sophomore Xavier Brewington hit a three-pointer to put the Panthers ahead 19-13 with 5:43 left in the third quarter.

The basket capped an 8-0 Polytech run to start the second half.

In the fourth quarter, though, the Dragons went ahead for good at 25-23 when freshman Haji Bell (9 points) swished a three-pointer with 3:37 left in the game.

Glasgow’s advantage grew to 31-23 before the Panthers mounted a late comeback.

A three-pointer from sophomore Gamber got Polytech back within 31-30 with 36 seconds still remaining.

The Dragons scored on a putback with 25 seconds left to get it lead back to 33-0. The Panthers had a shot blocked in the closing seconds before Gamber’s desperation half-court shot at the buzzer bounced high off the backboard.

“Tonight our shots weren’t falling at all,” said Pierce. “We just seemed like we were a little lethargic for some reason, I don’t know. We missed probably like 10 points on layups.”

Gamber finished with 13 points while Brewington added 12 before fouling out with a minute remaining. Senior Chadier Ford-Hopkins tallied 10 points for Glasgow.

The good news for Polytech is that it had just one senior on the roster this winter. That lone senior, Samuel Slater, was knocked out of Tuesday’s contest by a first-quarter ankle injury.

Even with a short schedule, the Panthers equaled their most number of wins in a season since 2014-15. Polytech’s strong finish leaves it optimistic about the future.

“People need to be on the lookout for Polytech for next year,” said Gamber.

“We’re definitely looking forward to coming back next year with a more-experienced crew,” said Pierce. “That’s our plan — to take what we did this year and hopefully push it into next year and become a better team.”