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Panthers net big wins over Tattnall
MichaelManning
Michael Manning makes a shot. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon

In their second meeting this season, the Panthers once again proved their cat-like skills can overpower a Warrior. Both the men and women got and maintained a widespread lead in their wins in Tattnall County on Tuesday.

Panthers 70, Tattnall 55
Panther head coach Willie Graham said he saw great progress in his team and felt they kept getting better and better throughout the game. But despite the progress, he noticed once again a lack of consistency in maintaining that intensity and drive.
“We played the first six to eight minutes of the first quarter almost flawless,” he said. “And then we did a couple of substitutions, and we lost our focus and were not that sharp again for the rest of the night. We kept enough pressure on them and executed enough to maintain a six to eight point lead for most of the game, however.”
It is the consistency factor and mental focus he hopes his team can improve on when the Panthers travel to Benedictine tonight.
“We are trying to get them to be sharper and be patient,” he said of his players. “We’ve played other teams that have thrown some form of zone at us but Benedictine will show us zone for most of the game. And beating the zone is more of a mindset than anything else. You must be patient and keep moving the ball until you find the hole and attack the weak side. The weak side will move depending on the kind of zone defense they have. Benedictine is known for using a variety of zones so we must be patient.”
Graham went on to note Benedictine is more a mental test than a physical one and it would take a team effort and everyone contributing their part for a victory.

Scoring
Michael Manning 19
Emmanuel Fuller 16
Rashine Mitchell 8
Jordan McRae 8
Charles Friend 6
Rion Brown 5
Will Lee 5
Rodericlk Jones 2
Donrico Wigfall 1

Lady Panthers 78, Tattnall 23
Lady Panther head coach Carolyn Kelly put her players through some rigid drills and training in the days leading up to their game against Tattnall. Not because she felt they posed a threat but it’s her way of preparing her team for the physical challenges of harder teams to come. She noticed the difference during the Tattnall County game.
“It did get them in shape a little bit and they were more disciplined on the offensive end and that is what we were stressing,” she said. “We can’t beat teams just on the fast break, we have to be a more disciplined team. We have to be able to set up a pattern and run through our pattern and they did a good job in doing that against Tattnall.”
Kelly said the drill seemed to give her players a better understanding on the concept of getting their hands in a player’s face to block the shots. It also gave her an insight on who really understood what she meant by closing out and trapping a player in.
The Lady Panthers face St. Vincent’s Academy tonight and Kelly said she talked to the players about the strategy they needed to avoid being taken out of their game plan.
“It doesn’t matter what kind of team St. Vincent’s has,” she said. “Whether they lose good players or acquire new ones, we always seem to have a struggle against them because of the style they play. They play opponents to their level and they will try and do the opposite of we want to do. They know we are big and that we are faster and their strategy will be to slows us down and take us out of what we are accustomed to doing. And for some reason they are successful. We’ve come out victorious in the past but their strategy always seems to give us a fit. Our plan is to tell our kids that instead of them trying to slow you down, let’s make them play our game and speed them up.”
The Lady Panthers are scheduled to tip-off at 6:30 p.m.

Scoring

Nisha Adams 20
Metra Walthour 18
Kourtney Alexander 12
Candice Barham 8
Miata Askew 6
Precious Williams 5
Shanetious Clay 3
Janesha Ross2
Marcella Gordon 2

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