PORTAL – The Portal Panthers took on the Bryan County Redskins for senior night. The Lady Panthers fell short to the Lady Redskins 68-37, and the Panthers defeated the Redskins 85-32.
The Panthers Got Rattled By The Redskins Press
The Lady Panthers were doing well keeping up with the Redskins in the first half, but seemed to struggle when Bryan County decided to start pressing them in the second half.
Head coach Nicole Newton knows that her team has a lot they need to work on, but acknowledges the big amount of growth that she has seen in her team since the beginning of the season and how fostering that growth could help them as they prepare for region play.
“We’ve grown so much,” Newton said. “Individual players are starting to realize what they can do and what they can bring to the team and that’s going to be huge when it comes to the region tournament and possibly the state playoffs. Our confidence is growing everyday. We’re back on track in the region. We just had two back to back region wins, and we’re going to finish up with two home region games, so that’s going to be big for us and our confidence going into the region tournament.”
Leading scorers for the Lady Panthers was Angel Cone and Raashonda McBride each with 10 points on the night. Followed by them was Glen Lowe and Alyssa King with eight points, Tiara Kingsberry with five points and Samyah McBride with two points.
The Redskins Didn’t Stand A Chance Against The Panthers
The Panthers took off as soon as they tipped off and never looked back. They dominated the entire game and the Redskins couldn’t seem to buy a shot.
Head coach Jeff Brannen is proud of his team, but knows there are still some things, like rebounding on both ends of the ball, that his team needs to work on preparing for region playoffs.
His seniors, Elijah Coleman, Joseph Thomas, Amir Jackson and Marion Tremble have had a huge impact on his team.
“The seniors have made a big impact on our success,” Brannen said. “They have started over 100 games. They have played a lot of basketball against all classifications, so no game is too big for them.”
Not only have these seniors started over 100 games, some of them have also reached almost 1500 points in their careers. The impact they have had has been more than big, it’s been outstanding.
Leading scorer for the Panthers was senior Joseph Thomas with 33 points on the night. That performance was followed by his younger brother, David Thomas with 12 points. Brian McQueen added 10 points. Senior Amir Jackson had eight points. Senior Elijah Coleman added six points to the scoreboard, Ray Hagins added five, senior Marion Tremble added four points and KJ Hunter added two points to the scoreboard.
Up Next:
The Panthers will be back in action on Tuesday as they take on Emanuel County Institute Bulldogs at home. The Lady Panthers will tip off at 6 p.m. and the Panthers will follow directly after at 7:30 p.m.
