Boles win propels Lady Panthers to title
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Listening to the remarks by the senior Lady Panther players during pre-game Senior Night proceedings, one got the sense that the night would be a special one for the team.
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Boles win propels Lady Panthers to title
Listening to the remarks by the senior Lady Panther players during pre-game Senior Night proceedings, one got the sense that the night would be a special one for the team. The four seniors – Bella Crawford, Autumn Whitten, Hannah Wright and Kalli Wright – thanked one another and their teammates for “playing with heart and dedication.”
There couldn’t have been a better description of their effort against Boles that followed.
The first quarter encapsulated all the aspects of the Lady Panther game which brought them a decisive win, 51-23, and a district championship.
Kalli Wright opened the scoring with a 3-pointer. Cacie Lennon then nicked the ball away and drove the floor for a lay-in. After turning the Lady Hornets over on the press, Hannah Wright scored, while Autumn Whitten hauled down a defensive rebound and took the ball the length of the court for two points. Whitten and Crawford each added a foul shot to build an 11-3 lead after one quarter.
Defensively, the Lady Panthers closed their defense with dispatch and never allowed Boles any freedom of action in the offensive zone. Excellent hustle by Kamrin Wright caused a 10-second back court violation by Boles just before the quarter break.
With Jade Kruse and Jesse Mitchell joining Kamrin Wright off the bench, the Lady Panthers played solid positional basketball. At the half the home side led 20-11.
Alba-Golden broke the game open at the start of the second half. After a quick Boles score, the Lady Panthers poured in 13 straight points. It was a joy to watch as each Lady Panther was obviously looking for that extra pass to give their teammate a scoring chance.
Assists by Crawford to Kalli Wright, Crawford to Lennon, and Kalli Wright back to Crawford highlighted the run. Meanwhile Whitten, Kalli and Hannah Wright wore down the Lady Hornets inside the paint.
The selfless assist game continued in the final quarter with Crawford feeding Hannah Wright and Lennon hitting Kalli Wright.
Alba-Golden outscored Boles 31-12 in the second half.
The final buzzer sounded. As if on que, Athletic Director Drew Webster came hurriedly out of the gym office with a piece of paper in his hand. He announced Como-Pickton’s upset of Cooper.
The Lady Panthers were district champions! Much joy enveloped the team.