Pickens County holds off Lady Panther comeback
Union nearly escapes Jasper with win
By TODD FORREST Sentinel Writer

The Union County Lady Panthers (11-4) nearly overcame a nine-point deficit in the final 1:17 but came up just a little short, 58-55. Union County got within two but Pickens County (7-7) managed to hold off Union's comeback bid. Union also had to overcome a poor shooting night, as well as a 25-9 second half free-throw difference in favor of Pickens. The Lady Panther's also couldn't take advantage of Pickens' 28 turnovers. "We wanted to get their big girl in foul trouble," said Coach West. "When we got into foul trouble, we couldn't make any shots. Pickens kept on turning it over but we just couldn't buy a basket."

Union County led throughout most of the first half, despite some early foul trouble. Union held a 12-10 lead after one and a 22-21 lead at the half. The third quarter was when things began going in Pickens' favor. Pickens outscored Union 19-13 during the third. Sarah Fulghum scored seven of her team high 17 points during the third quarter. "The only reason we stayed close during the third quarter was because of Fulghum," said Coach West.
SCORING SUMMARY:
UC: 12 - 10 - 13 - 20 - 55
PC: 10 - 11 - 19 - 18 - 58
Fulghum 17, Williams 15,
Bittenbinder 11, Gowder 10,
Sullivan 2, Edmondson 1
Lady Panthers travel to
Fannin County on Friday for
key sub-region matchup

The Union County Lady Panthers will face off with the Fannin County Lady Rebels (10-3), this Friday night in Blue Ridge. The two teams met just two weeks ago in the Battle of the States Christmas Tournament with Fannin County taking a 56-53 victory in double-overtime. However, that game did not affect the subregion standings but this Friday's game will.

Coach West really likes his team's chances this Friday night. "We've had some good practices this week. We understand what we need to do. If we can pick up a win over there, we will be 2-0 in sub-region play and in the driver's seat. We've focused a lot on rebounding and we have added a few wrinkles offensively." When asked about his team's confidence level going into the Fannin game, West answered, "even though we lost to them at the Towns County tournament, we know we can beat them. We've been getting closer and closer and now we're going to get them."