Four games into the season and the Alberton Panthers boys basketball team already has a victory in hand.

Unfortunately, that victory was not this past week when the Panthers dropped a pair of home games, falling 42-32 in a close battle to Victor this past Thursday, followed by a 61-36 loss to Class B Troy Friday evening.

Earlier this season, Alberton downed Granite County 45-44 in a thrilling last minute win to give them their first victory of the year.

Thursday night in Alberton, the two teams fought to a near draw after one quarter of play, with Victor holding on to a 10-9 lead after eight minutes of play.

But the Pirates kicked it into a higher gear in the second quarter, outscoring the home team 11-4 to take a 21-13 lead at the half.

That second quarter proved to be a lead the Pirates held onto the rest of the way as the young Panthers fell to 1-2 on the season.

Victor added two points to their halftime lead, outscoring Alberton 13-12 in the third quarter and 8-7 in the final eight minutes of play to seal the win.

Victor got 10 points apiece from Alec Rowlan and Josiah Berk as they lifted their season mark to 2-1. Alberton was led in scoring by Jaxson Zimmerman, who had eight points, and sophomore forward Shea Fredette, who chipped in seven.

The next night against Troy, the Panthers ended the first quarter in a 10-10 tie with the visitors from up north. The Trojans outscored Alberton 14-8 in the second quarter to open a 24-18 lead at the half.

It was a lead Troy would not relinquish the rest of the way.

The Trojans added six points to their advantage in the third quarter and headed into the final quarter with a 40-28 lead. They then outscored Alberton 21-8 in the fourth quarter to secure the win in their first official game of the year.

Point guard Tam Dao led the Panthers in scoring versus Troy with 12 points, while Zimmerman added 10 to the Alberton total.

Troy’s Carson Orr led all-scorers with 19 points.

The Panthers have one more game before the Christmas break, a road trip to Plains to take on the Horsemen this Thursday evening.