A-G Lady Panthers take district victory over Fruitvale

Posted 1/12/23

The Alba-Golden Lady Panthers leveraged a combination of basketball skills in wrestling a win from the Fruitvale Ladycats last Tuesday. The Lady Panthers prevailed, 53-39, by eclipsing the Ladycats …

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A-G Lady Panthers take district victory over Fruitvale

Posted

The Alba-Golden Lady Panthers leveraged a combination of basketball skills in wrestling a win from the Fruitvale Ladycats last Tuesday. The Lady Panthers prevailed, 53-39, by eclipsing the Ladycats in every facet of the game. 

The teams were remarkably similar. Both pressed the ball full-court. Both employed quickly-reacting zone defenses, and both had their fair share of athletic ballplayers who could manipulate the game. 

Alba-Golden simply had more of each – a more effective press, a quicker defense and more creative playmakers.  

Cacie Lennon opened the scoring with a jumper from the lane, after Alba-Golden forced a turnover on the press. Fruitvale hit a 3-pointer and scored an inside bucket to open their scorecard. Erin Langsten’s score tied the game early and indicated that this was going to be quite a dogfight.

The Lady Panthers forced four consecutive Fruitvale turnovers with Lennon, Kalli Trimble and Kayleigh Logan cashing in with four 3-pointers. The home side opened a 12-point lead. 

Taking a 7-point lead into the second quarter, the Lady Panthers turned the ball over twice to start the quarter. Fruitvale rallied, making the game a one-point affair. 

Two nice passages of play gave Alba-Golden a 6-point lead at the half. In the first, Logan stole the ball in the defensive zone, found Kamrin Wright with a pass ahead who issued a great assist to Lainey Teel. In the second case, Langsten and Teel teamed for a nice give and go down the baseline for a basket. 

The Alba-Golden pressure against the point of the Fruitvale offense paid great dividends in the third quarter, and the Lady Panthers cashed in with the turnovers.  They also used some effective finishing at the basket to build as much as a 12-point lead in the third quarter. 

Yet trailing by 11 points with four minutes to play, Fruitvale shifted from their zone to a man-to-man defense. It was a gift for Alba-Golden. The Lady Panthers outscored the Ladycats 11-8 down the stretch. 

Langston led the Lady Panther scorers with 15 and Lennon added 14. Trimble, Logan, Teel, Alexis Wilmut and Jessie Mitchell also recorded scores. 

The next chance to catch the Lady Panthers in action at home is Friday, Jan. 13 when they host Cooper.