The Lady Panthers playoff run came to an unexpected end Saturday with a 46-33 area round loss to the Lindsay Lady Knights at Prairiland High School. Lindsay surged ahead midway through the third quarter and built the margin of victory. 

For Alba-Golden, the game spelled one thing: frustration. The team that put up 73 points the week before started the game with a scoreless first quarter, going 0 for 11 from the field. With each miss and each tick off the clock, the pressure to score increased. The players began to aim their shots and lost their natural shooting motion. 

To amplify that frustration, the Lady Panthers were dominating rebounding and forced turnovers.  Usually, domination of rebounding and turnovers translates directly into points, but not so last Saturday. The Lady Panthers could manage only a 24% shooting percentage from the field in the first half (40% on the night). Alba-Golden trailed 7-0 after one quarter.

The Lady Panthers came out for the second quarter and looked like a new team. They forced a Lindsay turnover on the opening possession and began to find some offensive rhythm. Hannah Wright got them on the board with a nice inside move. Bella Crawford drove for a score and Wright added two more scores on the inside, one on a very nice assist from Cacie Lennon.

With four minutes to the halftime break, Alba-Golden had rattled off 10 straight points and took a 10-7 lead.  A turnover-riddled finish to the half saw Alba-Golden tie the score at 12 on a Crawford break. The score remained knotted at the half.

Alba-Golden surely expected to come out for the second half and be the productive offense they had enjoyed all season. It started that way. 

The Lady Panthers forced a Lindsay turnover to start the half and Crawford scored to take the lead. Hannah Wright scored while beating the press and Kalli Wright connected on a 3-pointer. The Lady Panthers led by five, 20-15. 

Midway through the third quarter, the game fundamentally changed. Lindsay had scratched back into a 20-20 tie at the 4:00 mark. Alba-Golden was whistled for a charging foul. Despite being hammered while driving the ball all night -- without a whistle -- it was charging fouls which were called. 

Three Alba-Golden turnovers followed: two against the Lindsay press and a 5-second violation.  Meanwhile Lindsay ranged in on the basket, hitting the last five shots of the quarter and taking a commanding 13-point lead, 33-20.    

The fourth quarter was a desperate affair. Each side registered 13 points, and Alba-Golden could not sustain a run. Eventually the Lady Panthers simply ran out of time. 

In that final quarter, each individual competed as hard as ever, however, it could not overcome the absence of a coordinated team effort for which the squad was known, which the playoffs demand, and unfortunately which just did not make it across the Sulphur River last Saturday.    

The loss aside, this group of athletes have made their mark on the history of Alba-Golden girls sports, with both the volleyball team and basketball team progressing to the second round of playoff action.