Pekin girls best No. 14 Highland on the road

PACKWOOD – One night after having their offense shut down, the offense seemed to come alive in an upset win. 

The Pekin girls basketball team finished the week 1-1 last week, which included an upset win on the road over Highland. 

After falling to Columbus 55-39 on Jan. 2, the Panthers went on the road and were able to pull off a 54-49 victory over No. 14 ranked Highland. 

Throughout the first half of the Jan. 3 game against the Huskies Pekin seemed to shut down anything that was thrown at them. The Panthers limited the Huskies to just six points in the first quarter. 

Pekin led 11-6 after the first eight minutes. Highland would score 12 points in the second quarter, but Pekin held onto a 21-18 lead. 

In the third quarter the Panthers were able to build their lead up again as they limited the Huskies to 11 points, while scoring 14 points. 

Highland wasn’t done yet as they stormed back to tie the game at 47 at the end of regulation. 

The game went into overtime and the Panther defense would go into overdrive as they held Highland to just two points in the extra period. Pekin scored seven points in the overtime period to earn the upset win over Highland. 

Renae Eubanks led the scoring effort on Jan. 3 with 18 points. She also added four rebounds and five steals. 

Abby Guise recorded a double-double with 15 points. She also had 20 rebounds in the game along with four steals. Maddy Petrehn would finish with nine points. 

Anna Hadley finished with seven points. Carlie Gambell had three points. Paislee Coleman finished with two points. 

On Jan. 2 the Panthers fell to Columbus 55-39.

The Panthers were able to start off the game with some offensive firepower as they scored 15 points in the opening quarter. The offense would be stymied by the Columbus defense in the second quarter as the Panthers scored just two points. 

Turnovers and a lack of shots falling into the netting hurt the Panthers throughout the second half. 

The Panthers trailed by 13 after the third quarter, and were limited to just seven points in the fourth quarter.

Anna Hadley had a double-double in the Jan. 2 game with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Ezra Parsons finished with eight points.

Eubanks scored six points. Another six points were turned in by Abby Guise. Maddy Petrehn also scored six points.

Paislee Coleman would score three points in the game. 

The Panthers stand at 4-4 overall this season. They hosted Winfield-Mt. Union on Tuesday. Friday night the Panthers play in Wapello against the 3-7 Arrows, before heading north to play Sigourney (5-3) on Saturday.