Lady Panthers avenge loss, keep streak alive

Published by admin on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 11:32am

The Lady Panthers had only lost two games by a total of five points heading into their rematch with Highland on January 15. In week three of the season, Pekin made the trek to Highland and were handed a 48-47 loss. Having won eight of nine since, many of which in blowout fashion, the Lady Panthers were able to avenge their loss by beating the Huskies 50-39.

Not a high-scoring game by any means, the Pekin defense was the story of the first half, holding the Huskies to 11 points. Defensive stops led to offensive opportunity and the Lady Panthers took advantage, by scoring a dozen in the first quarter and six more in the second to go into the half leading 18-11. More shots dropped in the second half for both sides as the scoring increased the deeper they went into the game. Pekin edged out Highland 12-10 in the third and held off a rally in the fourth, winning the quarter 20-18.

The girls kept their momentum rolling when they traveled to face Iowa Mennonite on January 18, hoping to shut down Suzanna Yoder, the top scorer in the state. While Yoder did exceed her average (26 points) by dropping 29, the Lady Panthers held all but one other scorer to single digits.

Pekin got out to a quick start against IMS, their defense being the bigger flaw on the court. The Lady Panthers put up 17 points in the first quarter, holding IMS to six, and followed that up with a 21-point second quarter to go into the half surging with a 38-18 lead. IMS made it a game in the second half with Pekin’s offense tapering off.

Read the full recaps in this week's edition of the News-Review.