Dan Eyrich, AP Sports; Photos courtesy Nicole Olinger
It was a close game throughout but the Lady Panthers gabbed the lead with just over two minutes remaining and hung on for a 39-37 TRAC win over Rockridge on the road Monday night. The F/S game was canceled due to an approaching winter storm and the varsity game moved up to a 5:30 start time. The win moved the Panthers to 10-8.
The teams traded the lead multiple times in the first quarter with the Rockets’ Needham hitting a three with 30 seconds left to give Rockridge a 12-10 lead after one.
EP’s Kennedy Buck scored the first 5 points of the second period on a drive and a three-point bucket to put EP up 15-12. Three minutes later Sydney Schwartz and Olivia Purvis hit threes on consecutive offensive trips to push the Panther lead to 21-15 with 2:30 before the half. The Rockets responded with a 5-0 run before an offensive put back by Gabi Abell pushed the Panther lead back to 3. Abell then added a free throw with 1 second left to put the Panthers up 24-20 at the half.
Both teams tightened up their defense in the second half with points hard to come by. A bucket by Lauren Abbott on a nice feed by Buck pushed the Panther lead back to 6, the largest of the game, at the 4:50 mark. Rockridge responded by going on 7-0 run to take a 31-30 lead after three.
A three-ball by Hannah Huisman returned the lead to EP early in the fourth quarter but it was short lived as the Rockets went on another run to take 37-34 lead with 3:34 left in the game.
A pair of free throws by Buck and a huge three-ball by Huisman, her second of the quarter, gave the Panthers a 38-37 lead with just over two minutes left.
Rockridge had a chance to tie or retake the lead when the Rocket’s Danner was fouled on a shot attempt but missed both of her attempts. Up to that point the Rockets were 8 of 9 from the line in the game. The Panthers, looking to run some clock, promptly turned the ball over in the back court giving the home team another chance at the lead. The Panther defense locked in and eventually forced a turnover.
The Rockets had three fouls to give in the final minute and used them all, which led to Sydney Schwartz going to the line for two shots with 18 ticks remaining. She missed both but Huisman tracked down the rebound on a great hustle play and was fouled giving EP another chance to make it a three point game. The senior hit the first but missed the second with 13 seconds remaining with the Rockets collecting the rebound. The Panthers defended the ball well up the floor forcing the Rockets to take a long three at the buzzer, which came up short.
Huisman had 8, including a pair of threes in the final quarter, for the Panthers. Buck led EP with 12 as teammates Purvis, Schwartz and Abell each contributed 5. Rockridge’s Strachan led all scorers with 20.
Coach Chris Brown the Panther’s busy schedule did not leave a lot of time to work on a game plan. “With our past practice schedule and playing on Saturday, we kind of went in having to learn on the fly.
I thought the girls did a great job of battling the whole game. In the third quarter we struggled a little bit. I thought we were getting some good shots but they were not falling and that led to some possessions where our transition defense needs to be a little better.”
Brown felt his senior laden roster made a big difference in a tough place to play. “The girls hung in there. Hats off to the girls as they were very calm and didn’t show any panic during our timeouts and that shows the experience and senior leadership just when we need it the most.”
The Panthers have won 6 of their last 7 and will travel to Monmouth-Roseville on Thursday.
