Panthers Clash With Indians
J. C. Tilton
Carlisle has not had the best of seasons. But they are a scrappy bunch of players who would play thru to the end. South came into the game with a slightly better record and hoped to be able to utilize their height to advantage once again. In the first quarter TVS was able to get an early 13-7 lead thanks mainly to the inside play of Katie McCoy and the shooting of Dany Lipps.
TVS opened with a man to man defense that was effective at first. Carlisle opened with a press, but TVS seemed to be able to handle it fairly well. So after awhile the Indians settled into a half court man to man. Carlisle went into a spread offense in an attempt to make cuts to the basket. TVS put a stop to this by dropping into a zone in the 2nd quarter. At one point in the quarter TVS had an 11 point lead. South tried their spread offense against the Indians and scoring was distributed. But Carlisle got into a groove and closed to within 4 thanks to a Brittany Dunaway trey with 18 second left.
The game was shaping up to be a rubber band game, where TVS would stretch out a lead and Carlisle would snap back and close the gap. In the third quarter, the post players would carry the load for TVS with Brittany Hayes and Katie McCoy doing all the scoring. Marianne Burgess carried the Indians fortunes on her back in the third - scoring all of Carlisle's points. TVS took a time out when the Indians had closed to within 2 in order to slow down the Indians. TVS had been able to score against the Indian zone, but not as often as they would have liked. The Indians were still on the tail of the Panthers 35-31 after 3 quarters.
South switched from a zone defense to a man defense, but they had difficulty closing out against the Indian shooters. Dunaway would connect for three out of the gate. After a Hayes basket early in the quarter, the Panthers were stuck at 37 as the Indians closed the gap, tying on a Burgess free throw at the 4:23 mark. The rubber band was broke and the Panthers needed to respond. But before they could make any headway Burgess connected again - this time for a three pointer. McCoy hit a free throw, but Carlisle had a 2 point lead and the ball. They began to run a slowdown. Debbie Brubaker hit a trey for the Panthers pulling them to within 1 at the 1:27 mark. But Shelton connected on a trey for Carlisle and suddenly the Panthers were back in the hole by 4 points. With about a minute left TVS had to foul. Carlisle knocked down a pair of free throws and now it was a 6 point lead for the Indians.
On their possession the Panthers drew within three as Dany Lipps connected with 38 seconds left.
However, Carlisle scored on their possession. When Katie McCoy was fouled at the other end she sunk 2 free throws to once again pull the Panthers to within 3. On the inbound the Panthers were able to get control of the ball and called timeout with 5 seconds left. They tried to set up and inbound play, but the Indians sniffed it out and got a hand on the shot. Time ran out on the Panther comeback as they would fall 49-46.
Coach Robinson was obviously disappointed with this loss. “We had some major defensive let downs. In the second quarter, we went into a zone because we wanted to press. And we stood there and let them shoot three point shots. When we went back to man to man in the second half, our help was horrible. A girl would drive down the lane and we would just stand there and watch her. It doesn't come to last second shots. It's not hitting the square all night long inside, being complacent on defense, and not fighting for rebounds. I was frustrated with our lack of heart - I just felt like we didn't have that tonight”.
On a positive note, the Panthers remembered that they could shoot 3 pointers. Connecting for 3 - one from Brubaker, two from Lipps. Which may be a season high for this Panther team. Hopefully that will be a sign of things to come from the team as showing the ability to score from outside will loosen up defenses and make it harder for them pack inside and sit on the post players.
Scoring for the Panthers: Durkle 3, Lipps 8, Brubaker 5, Stone 5, Hayes 14, McCoy 11. The reserves won 45-23. Scoring: Spitler 8, French 10, McCollum 6, Niswonger 2, Melling 3, Colby 6, Ervin 2, Tilton 8.
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