Jets Slip by Panthers

J. C. Tilton
Slow starts in the first and third quarters left Twin Valley South playing catch up ball most of the night. Coach Mabry would later acknowledge after the game that we have been a slow starting team this season, we need to pick it up in the first quarter. Turnovers further hampered their play on Saturday night. Finally, the team was playing short handed as a couple of players were unable to dress for the game.
The game itself was an exciting match up. The Jets raced off to an early 10 point lead in the first quarter. The score was even until the midway point and then the Jets went on a 10-2 run to finish out the quarter with momentum. South spread out their offense in the second quarter and found some gaps to exploit. They slowly chipped away at the Jet lead and climbed back into the game. Gates scored 7 in this quarter; Wysong and Creech both scored to pull South within 1 twice and finally the quarter ended with the Jets advantage at 3 & 25-22.
In the third quarter, Franklin Monroe exploited the South interior defense, scoring most of their points in the paint. Again turnovers were a factor as South had several passes get picked off. South adjusted their defense and after being down by as many as eight points, they finished the quarter down 6 thanks to a pair of Creech free throws.
The scrappy Panther team closed the gap with the Jets, but were never able to pass them. Gates, Creech, and Voge(one basket and a three pointer) all hit shots in the last quarter to pull the team even. With a minute and half left it was a two point ball game. The Jets spread out their offense and tried to play slow down. They hit a critical free throw to make it a three point game. South tried to set up a play with a little over 10 seconds left, but the shot rimmed out and Franklin Monroe hit their free throws when they snagged the rebound and were fouled to get the final margin of victory 55-50.
Coach Mabry was pleased with Adelee Gates overall performance. “She is just a sophomore and makes mistakes from time to time, but overall she has done well this season.” On the team, “We have to have stronger starts to our games, we can't spot a team 10 points and then play catch up.” He was pleased with the game the team won earlier in the week against Bradford. “Anytime that you can hold a team under 40 points, you should win the game. We had a strong second half against them offensively and that put the game away.”
Scoring for the Panthers: Wysong 5, Voge 7, Gates 21, Ingram 7, Creech 10.
The JV game was won by Franklin Monroe 30-27. Scoring: Emily Burge 6, Katie Bingham 4, Kim Perry 14, Jessica Hickey 3.