by Steve Bradley
The Panther Ladies went to Stillwater last Thursday to play the Warriors. A couple hours later and the Panthers were heading home with a 66 – 49 win. Rachel Pine led the way with 22 points, Taylor Hayes had a nice outing, tallying 14 points.
Tuesday evening was the biggest game of the year up to this point for the Ladies. Undefeated Greenwich and high scoring Alexis Case came to town for a showdown. With a big, vocal crowd on hand, the game lived up to its billing as a classic. The Panthers pulled away a bit at the very end, but they struggled to do it.
Throughout the first quarter, the game went back and forth. During the second quarter, the Panthers slowly gained the advantage. Only a three to six point advantage, but they had the lead. Neither team was playing its best. The Panthers had the better rebounders, Megan Flynn ended with 21 rebounds of her own, but on this night the Witches had the better outside shooters. There was no fear in the Witches about firing shots up either, they attempted 30 three-pointers, sinking seven. At the half, the Panthers held a 30 – 23 lead over the Witches, but it was not a lead Panther fans were feeling comfortable with.
During the second half, the Witches played better. They slowly chipped away at the Panther lead. More of the Witches three-pointers hit their mark. The Panthers held a slim three point advantage at the end of three quarters.
The fourth quarter saw the Witches take the lead, with both teams’ fans loudly cheering their team. Kelly Pine and Flynn were dominating in the paint, but the Witches were getting the turnovers. Greenwich’s Alexis Case and Sabrina Whitehouse kept making big baskets, and the win was up for grabs. With just over three minutes left, Chelsea Stevens, the Panthers’ three-point specialist, hit a three that gave the Panthers a big lift. From that point on Greenwich had to foul, and the Panthers tacked on more points with foul shots. The final score was 57 – 49.
Kelly Pine had a big night for the Panthers, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Rachel Pine scored 13, and Chelsea Stevens ended with a big 12 points, going 4 of 7 with threes. Megan Flynn struggled to get the ball to fall inside the rim on her shots but more than made up for it with a great night rebounding. The Panther defense came up big, holding Alexis Case to 17 points, almost exactly half her scoring average and her season low. Anna Wysocki or Liz Ryan were in Case’s face the entire game and deserve much of the credit for keeping Case in check.
This is a big, exciting win for the Panthers. A big, vocal crowd came out to watch and enjoyed a fun game. No one left disappointed. The rematch of these teams is scheduled for February 10 at Greenwich High School. The Panthers are now 9 – 0 overall, and 6 – 0 in league play. The Panthers moved into the #2 spot in New York State Class C rankings earlier in the week.
Coming up for the Ladies Panthers this week will be a home game against Granville on Friday, January 16, at 7:30 pm. Saturday, January 17, finds the Ladies right back in the Panther Den at 1:30 pm for a game against Mount Anthony. On Tuesday, January 20, the Ladies will travel Route 22 for a 7:30 start against Tamarac on the Bengals’ home court.