By Allen Hamrick
In the early part of the week, the Lady Panthers were in action at the Sectional Tournament held in Roane County. Here is where it would be determined who would move on to the Regional level of play.
The Lady Panthers were seated number one at the tournament, and in the first round they had to take on the always tough Lady Eagles of Braxton. With two of the regular players out, the bench stepped up their game and took the Lady Eagles to the cleaners. It wasn’t as nail biting as it could have been, but it looked as though the Lady Eagles had a power outage as the Lady Panthers went on to win the game and move into the finals. Next up was the Lady Minutemen of Lewis County, and they had just mopped the floor with the hosting Lady Raiders in four games to get them into a head to head with the Lady Panthers.
Since the COVID-19 epidemic has lasted like a hidden pain in your back, this tournament had to be a single elimination in the first round unlike the usual double elimination. The Lady Panthers came to the floor determined to take home the Sectional title. It was like digging a hole in sand – the Lady Panthers played like a well oiled machine and made little to no mistakes. The Lady Panthers beat the Lady Minutemen in three straight games which gave them the title and a chance to compete to go to the state tournament.
The Lady Panthers then headed to Philip Barbour for the Regional competition on Saturday evening. A first or second place finish here would mean a trip to the big dance at the Charleston Civic Center. This Regional competition had only four teams unlike in years past. Lewis County and Clay County had to bust chops with schools that are not usually in their region. The Lady Panthers drew Robert C. Byrd for their first match and their only match. They played hard but just couldn’t match RCB. The wind just went out of the sails for the Lady Panthers, but the girls had a great season and finished it by playing good, hard volleyball and giving us our money’s worth. For some, it was their final game as Lady Panthers and their 2020 season will be remembered as one of the best.
The Lady Panthers will be back next season and should have another great team. Congratulations Lady Panthers for bringing home the Sectional title!
