Hughes Springs second-half surge thwarts Lady Panthers

Posted 12/23/21

The Alba-Golden Lady Panthers fell victim to two critical turns of the game last Friday as the visiting Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs went home with a 45-31 win. 

With 2:45 to play in the …

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Hughes Springs second-half surge thwarts Lady Panthers

Posted

The Alba-Golden Lady Panthers fell victim to two critical turns of the game last Friday as the visiting Hughes Springs Lady Mustangs went home with a 45-31 win. 

With 2:45 to play in the third quarter, and the Lady Panthers holding a 16-13 lead, the Lady Mustangs went into a full court press. Two quick Alba-Golden turnovers resulted in six Lady Mustang points. Hughes Springs opened up a 28-18 lead at the quarter break and never relinquished the lead.

The short full court press coincided with senior Lady Mustang Sanariya Davis going on an offensive tear. She scored seventeen points in the time remaining, as Hughes Springs abandoned their set offense and just let her run the floor. With great speed and a nice touch at the basket, the senior personally powered Hughes Springs to the win.

Up until that critical juncture late in the third quarter, Alba-Golden held the advantage. They took an 11-8 lead into the half-time break and were playing more aware and more aggressive basketball than the visitors. 

Of specific note, both Alexis Wilmut and Kylie Kennedy had strong starts on the inside and showed much improvement around the basket. The Lady Panthers depended on the aggressive play of Kamrin Wright, Cacie Lennon and Erin Langston to harass the Lady Mustangs. 

The Lady Panthers kept Hughes Springs off their game until Davis went on her scoring spree.

The game opened up considerably in the fourth quarter, with Lennon and Wright recording nice assists to Kennedy and Wilmut.

Two characteristics of the game will likely be on the training agenda for Alba-Golden. Overambitious passing continues to be problematic for the Lady Panthers. While aggressive play is the only way to win, there must be a determination of what pass is within the realm of the possible against the opponent. 

Secondly, the Lady Panthers simply had a bad shooting night. Had even a few of their shots fallen from outside the lane, they would have had a significant lead over the visitors at the half and may have been able to stave-off the late charge. 

After participating in the Mineola Classic Tourney Dec. 28-29, the Lady Panthers open district play on Jan. 7 hosting Como-Pickton.