Alberton girls gain experience over weekend

ALBERTON – When the Lady Panthers played against Valley Christian and Darby last week, they were defeated in both games but gathered valuable experience for the future.

When the girls played against Valley Christian on Thursday, January 16, they returned with a final score of 14 to 55. According to Head Coach Hannah Anderson, the girls had a rough time because the team was short a few players.

“The girls played really hard and gave it everything they had,” said Anderson.

She was impressed by how the girls had performed so far. A few of the girls especially stood out to her.

Junior Taylor Erdman was the top scorer for the Panthers as she brought in seven points. Fellow junior Olivia Taylen also had a good game as she put in four points.

When the Lady Panthers had their home game against Darby on Saturday, January 18, the girls came away with a final score of 12 to 57. According to Anderson, Darby had an extremely aggressive team.

The game was hard on the Lady Panthers as Darby continually pushed their offense. By the end of the first half, the score was 10 to 32. The girls continued to struggle into the second quarter and did not score any points.

Despite the Lady Tiger’s strong defense and offense, Anderson saw light in the darkness as the girls had an overall good game. She said the team was noticeably better in some areas where problems had occurred before.

“The girls played very well against [Darby],” said Anderson. “We’ve been working really hard on out-rebounding and boxing out and it showed this game.”

Anderson said the Lady Panthers have shown a great deal of improvement this season. She was confident the girls would continue to improve with the experience this game gave them.

Anderson praised Erdman for her moves and post work. Senior Ryan Vicek was also commended for how she moved and handled the ball. The coach said both girls played great.

Vicek and Erdman were the only two scorers of the game as they each scored six points.

In the days before their next game, the team has worked to improve their shooting and rebounding. Anderson said the girls also needed to practice working as a team in some areas. However, she was confident the team would fix their problem areas.

“We’ve been improving every single game and I know we’ll continue to do so,” she said.

On Thursday, January 23, the Alberton girls will host the Superior Lady Bobcats at 7 p.m. in a game for county pride. The team will also play at home against Phillipsburg on Friday, January 24, at 4 p.m.

Anderson was excited for the game against Superior. She said the in-county games were always strong matches and a lot of fun.

This will be the second time Alberton has played Superior this season. According to Anderson, the girls have improved in a number of areas since the first game in December.

“I’m excited to see how we play against them this time around,” said Anderson.