By Allen Hamrick
The Lady Panthers were home this past week against Buffalo, and it was a barn burner. The Lady Panthers came out swinging against Buffalo in the first half but got out bombed in the second half. The Lady Panthers and Buffalo gals were looking for quarters in field of pea gravel in the first period as getting points was like shooting baskets with tater chips. At the end of the first, it was Lady Panthers 10, Buffalo 6. Both teams picked up the pace after that and started burning the net. Lady P defense set in and took the Buffalo girls off their usual game of three pointers. The Lady Panthers added another 15 points to the board before retiring to a pep rally in the locker room. At the half, it was Lady Panthers 25, Buffalo 18. The score stayed a respectful distance apart as both teams were finding their BBall groove. It was catch up time for Buffalo and time was running out.
With an obvious pep talk at the half, the Lady Panthers pulled out all the stops in the third and out-muscled the Lady Titans under the board as McKenzie Chaffin came alive and started racking up most of her 12 points in the period. At the end of the 3rd period, the Lady Panthers were setting comfortable with a 10 point lead, but Buffalo had some ace shooters who could drop some buckets quick. Then, it was as if a curse in crept through the CCHS gym from some unseen dark corner. The Lady Panthers fell off their shooting wagon and got buried on the trail in the 4th as Buffalo outshot the Lady Panthers 5-22 allowing Buffalo a major comeback with ten of those points coming from their ace cheat line shooter Alivia Lukart who hit for 8 free throws. Fouls became dessert for Buffalo as this put them at the head of the table. The Lady Panthers couldn’t seem to get the same looks at the net as they had in the first three periods as Buffalo stepped up their defense.
In the end, it was Buffalo over the Lady Panthers 45-54. In the game, McKenzie Chaffin was top shot with 12 points followed closely by Olivia Witt with 11 points. The Lady Panthers can beat anybody on the courts if they can stay consistent at the hoop. The Ladies will be at home this week for two more shots at the winners’ circle. The first game will be Monday night against Nicholas and again on Thursday against Poca. These should be some good games, so come out and support Lady Panther basketball.
