Panthers put away Ansonia
The Twin Valley South Panthers put on an impressive performance this last weekend with a decisive win over Ansonia. The home team seemed to have everything in sync while the visiting Tigers never really got on track. The Tigers did get a little traction in the second half and closed the gap a little, but South redoubled their efforts and were able to pull away with a 56-38 win.

Ansonia started off the night in a press, hoping to rattle the young South guards. But South brushed off the pressure and after half a quarter of pressure, Ansonia settled into zone. Later they would try a little man to man when the zone wasn’t effective, but they ended up playing zone most of the night. Immediately South shot out to a lead, they were attacking the Ansonia defense and making their baskets. At the end of the first quarter, South had a double digit lead 15-4.

The South defense was also on track in the first half. They played in a zone for the entire night. Ansonia didn’t get very many open looks at the basket and so when they shot, they were missing. And the South team did have a height advantage and were sweeping the ball off of boards, holding the Tigers to one attempt per possession. The zone defense was aggressive, generating turnovers and South was getting points off of transition. This allowed them to build the lead to 29-11 at the half.

South at one point had a 26 point lead. They went on a run to start the third quarter and were up 37-11, so it was beginning to look like a blow out. But South relaxed at this point and the Ansonia offense began to slowly climb back into the game. They tried a few different looks and got some advantage with a shell offense that opened up the outside shot. In the fourth quarter, they got a little run going and took a time out to set up their press once again to try one last attempt to close with the Panthers. But South was able to handle the pressure and ride out the last quarter for the victory.

Coach Tony Augsperger was asked for comment after the game, “We played really, really good basketball for about 2 and half quarters. Then I felt like we relaxed and we didn’t put them away like we should have. A good team would keep the pressure on them when we had them thirty something to eleven and extend that lead. But we let them creep back into the game, we are not good enough yet to allow teams to do that to us. “

South has a big game next Tuesday at Tri-Village(5-0), “They are the tallest team in the league and we will not have a height advantage against them. We are playing on their court; it is going to be a huge game for both teams. “ Tri-village is undefeated at this point and those are decisive wins - their closest margin of victory is 19 points. So South will have their hands full against them. South will then end the week at home on Friday against Newton(1-4).



The JV team won their game 44-33. Scoring for South: Augsperger 2, Boggs 8, Cole 4, Cottingim 7, Green 10, Innis 4, Meyers 21. Watch for upcoming coverage of the Holiday tournament.