Lady Panthers top Lakeview
Play two tight matchups against White and Towns
By JARED PUTNAM

Lauren Dyer gets off the jump shot in the Lady Panthers win over Lakeview.

The Lady Panthers came out strong in the Battle of the States Christmas Tournament, defeating Lakeview, but lost close games to both White County and Towns County.

Union 44 - Lakeview 32

“The Lakeview game is more indicative of what we are going to be doing [in the future],” said Head Coach Mike West. “We’re going to be doing more zone pressing and zone, and mix in man [defense.]”

The game was tight through the first quarter, as the two teams finished the opening period in a dead heat 11- 11. Lakeview managed to take the lead 20-11 in the second quarter, but the Lady Panthers fought back with a 10-2 run, pulling within a single point at 22-21 at the half.

Union took the lead 28-27 in the third period on a Jess Seabolt three-pointer. The Lady Panthers pulled away down the stretch, earning a rematch with White County.

Union 66 - White 71 (OT)

Although the Lady Panthers led most of the game against the Lady Warriors, in the end, White County eked out a victory.

Kayla Gowder looks for an open passing lane against Lakeview.

“It was a great game, but we blew one 13 point lead in the first half, one 13 point lead in the second half, and went 0-5 from the free throw line in the last minute-thirty,” said Coach West. “We make one of those freethrows we win.”

The Coach said that playing this opponent in manto man defense will help Union improve. “We played White County man to man before and beat them, and playing man to man will make us better,” said the coach.

The Lady Panthers also shot well in the game. “We had two nights in a row where we shot 41 percent, so I was pleased with our shooting, but I wasn’t as pleased with our defense. But White ended up winning the whole thing, they’re a good basketball team.”

Union 54 - Towns 71

The Lady Indians jumped out to a big lead in the first quarter of the final game, and the Lady Panthers were unable to rally.

“We weren’t ready to play,” said Coach West. Although the team made comebacks during the game but couldn’t make it count.

“We ran out of gas trying to get back into the game,” said the coach. “We need to get better. We’re right there. We’re so much better than we were last year. We’re 20 points per game better if you do the stats, but we’ve won five games.”