RALEIGH-Panther Creek senior forward Earnest Ross made a commitment to play for Auburn last Thursday afternoon, and that night, Ross played the first game of his senior year of high school.

It was a full day for the highly regarded prospect, and after a slow start to the game, Ross led the Catamounts with 24 points in a 65-44 win over Sanderson.

Ross, who had only seven points in the first half while fighting through foul trouble, said he wasn't focused on his commitment early in the game, rather he was working to get his other teammates involved.

"We really wanted to start the season off well, playing team ball," Ross said. "I had to adjust with the early foul trouble, so I really focused on getting the team involved and making the extra pass."

Panther Creek coach L.J. Hepp said he was happy with Ross' unselfish attitude, but said he'll have to get used to playing with fouls – especially against the area's best teams.

"It's good that he got the practice doing that, because he's going to have to do it against really good opponents," Hepp said.

In the first half, the unselfish attitude led to a deep scoring effort for the Catamounts. Seven different players scored in the first quarter as Panther Creek quickly jumped out to a 17-6 lead.

Eleven different players scored for the game as Hepp attributed the Catamounts' depth Thursday night to their experience together.

"We have a very deep team. We have nine guys in their third year with us," Hepp said. "They all really worked to get better in the offseason. We have a lot of confidence in our depth and we're trying to use that to our advantage."

Already up 14 at the half, Panther Creek put the Spartans away in the third as Ross got going, scoring 12 in the quarter.

"It felt good to get things started and hopefully there will be many more games like this," Ross said. "Hopefully we can continue to play this way."

For Hepp, the first game of the season served as a chance for his team to showcase the things they're good at – scoring depth off the bench and ball movement – and to hone those skills to prep them for the rest of the season. And with Leesville Road set to visit Panther Creek on Thursday, Hepp said his team won't be trying anything new.

"We're trying to do the same things now that we'll do in conference play," Hepp said. "We've determined what aspects we think we can be good in and that's how we're going to play. No holding back."