Lady Panthers prepare for district tournament

ALBERTON – After a hard battle, the Lady Panthers took a 40-point loss against the Valley Christian Lady Eagles on Thursday, Feb. 13.

In the first quarter the girls had a good start against the Lady Eagles and were able to stay fairly close. By the end, Valley Christian was beginning to pull ahead with a 10-point advantage. The quarter ended with a score of 7-17.

In the second quarter, the Lady Eagles came out with a strong offense as they more than doubled their points. While the Alberton girls struggled to pull ahead, they were unable to make much improvement. The first half ended at 12-41.

As the second half opened, the Lady Panthers brought out a stronger defense. The team was able to make progress in slowing down Valley Christian. While the quarter ended with Alberton still behind, the girls were able to improve their game. When the buzzer sounded, the boards read 17-55.

The final quarter saw an even better improvement to the Lady Panther’s game. As they played their best defense of the day, the girls were able to keep the Lady Eagles to single digit points. The quarter was close and both teams only brought in a handful of points. The game’s final score was 21-61.

The game was a team effort as many of the players were able to contribute. Some of the girls especially stood out with junior Taylor Erdman as the team’s leader. Erdman brought in six points while sophomores Deveyn Dutt and Mia Tocci both came in close behind with a total of eight points between them.

The girls also went to Darby last week for their final game of the regular season. The girls performed consistently throughout the game but ended with a loss.

The Lady Panthers struggled to break through the Darby guards. The first half saw the girls bring in eight points as they fought to pull ahead. The first quarter saw a score of 13-4 while the second quarter ended with 8-27.

As the second half opened the Alberton girls were able to make improvements to their game. Both teams were able to come out ahead by the end of the third quarter. As the buzzer rang the scoreboard showed 13-43.

Both teams had a consistent game, which led to a final score of 17-58.

Senior Ryan Vicek led the team in points with a total of six throughout the game. Erdman, Dutt and Tocci contributed the remaining scores.

According to Head Coach Hanna Anderson, the team is gearing up and ready for districts. She said the team would play with everything they have.

“[We’re] going to continue to play well together and get ready for districts,” Anderson said. “The girls have been playing very hard and giving the games everything they have.”

This week the girls will go to Frenchtown for the district tournament. The Lady Panther’s first game will be on Thursday, Feb. 20.