The Panthers (7-3, 1-0) never trailed, jumping out to a 12-point halftime lead and then extending the lead in both the third and fourth quarters, holding the Eagles to just 9 second-half points.
"I was very impressed by our defensive effort," said head coach Drew Torres. "We started out good, then we relaxed a little bit in the second quarter. At halftime we talked about how, when you have a team against the ropes like that, you have to deliver the knockout blow."
Senior swingman Eddie Miller led the Panthers, scoring 15 points, all from the field, and pulled down five boards. Fellow swingman and classmate Calvin Douglas chipped in 12 points, and junior center Tim Williams added a dozen of his own and grabbed seven rebounds.
"Tim was big, blocking shots for us," Torres said of his 6-foot-7-inch center's presence in the paint. "When he wasn't blocking shots, he was changing them. They were definitely hesitant to take the ball into the paint with Tim down there. He and Eddie both did an excellent job rebounding the ball, too."
Antioch senior guards Murkice Carter and Ryan Fox scored 9 and 5 points, respectively.
Kalle Pascal and Christian Rojas scored all but four of Clayton Valley's 27 points, with Pascal dropping in 12, including a pair of three-pointers, and Rojas scoring 11 points in defeat.
The Panthers look to make it three straight wins when they travel to Concord to face off against BVAL power De La Salle tonight at 7 p.m. The Spartans (9-0, 1-0) enter the game perfect on the season after trouncing Freedom 71-30 in their Tuesday night BVAL opener.
"That's the big game. That's the measuring stick," said Torres on the importance of the contest with De La Salle. "I think we can play with them, but we'll find that out on Friday."
Antioch returns to the court Tuesday night, Jan. 9, when it hosts cross-town rival Deer Valley (4-6, 1-0) for a 7:15 tipoff. The Wolverines defeated Heritage 59-44 in their league opener on Tuesday night behind 16 points by junior guard D'angelo Williams. Sterling Moore added 10 points for the Wolverines, and Tyree Murray and Telvis Jones scored eight apiece.
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