Lady Panther Basketball — Experience Jennings County

The Lady Panthers traveled north on Saturday to take on some tough competition with the # three ranked team in the state, the Center Grove Lady Trojans. The fans that packed the stands at Center Grove by Jennings County were simply stunning. Our area represented well against Bedford at home but it was something to know that many traveled an hour north to support our Jennings County teams. Keep up the support, God is up to something great with these teams.

Center Grove got the tip to start the game. After a few trips up and down the court scoreless, the Lady Panthers struggled to find their way into an offensive flow, not able to find their normal rhythm. It seemed Center Grove’s speed and scouting efforts caused the Lady Panthers to be a little choppy, forcing several shots. Having Elmore and Woodard both picking up two fouls in the first quarter didn’t help matters either. The game was called extremely tight first half. Alivia Elmore and Juliann each had solid and 1s and McIntosh hit a three. All proved vital for the girls getting started offensively. Defensively, we saw a great effort by Juliann Woodard with several key rebounds and steals that helped the Lady Panthers push their way forward. The end of the first quarter was 9 – 16, led by the Trojans.

The second quarter of play started with a forced entry pass on offense that led to quick a turnover by the Panthers. However, mid-quarter, when Mollie Ernstes stepped into action and contributed four three-point baskets the team picked up some fire. Woodard battled hard defensively against Wirts again with several steals and several key rebounds. Elmore was dominating in getting to the basket while McIntosh contributed 7 points going into the half, hitting her shooting average early in the game. For Center Grove, Annee picked up her third foul with one minute to go in the second quarter. All helped the Lady Panthers not only close the gap with the Lady Trojan but also helped jolt the Lady Panthers forward in this quarter of play. The Lady Panthers went into halftime down only one, 27-28.

With all that momentum, leading into the half the Lady Panthers came out again in the third reverting back to the first-quarter style of play instead of capitalizing on second-quarter momentum. But, the girls were trying to work through it. Woodard stepped up more offensively, hitting a couple of threes and a key two-point bucket. However, it was easily overshadowed by Annee’s four three three-pointers (three being back-to-back-to-back) and didn’t seem to matter with our defensive play. Instead of capitalizing on what the game presented, it felt like we weren’t adjusting at times giving the Lady Trojans the upper hand. Center Grove’s lead grew in the third by 6, 38-44.

The fourth quarter started to closely resemble the same as the third quarter action. The lead grew to 11 points for the Lady Trojans with 6 minutes left. Ernstes hit a three-pointer in the corner, after trailing by 13 points at that point, that gave a glimmer of hope for the girls. Juliann immediately followed that with a key and 1 and a steal that ended with Aliva hitting a couple of free throws. Ernstes followed that with a steal and assist on the full-court press that led to Elmore’s layup. Those actions brought the Lady Panthers within 3 of the Lady Trojans. We had a 12-2 run until Grant, left wide open in the corner, hit a key three-point bucket for the Trojans.

Jennings's full-court pressure on the Lady Trojans proved to be a wise and favorable decision causing several turnovers when the Lady Panthers needed it most. However, not being able to make quick buckets in the end proved to hurt the Lady Panthers. A timeout was called at 53 seconds left, scored 60 -54. The Lady Panthers couldn’t convert in their set play but did end with Woodard at the line hitting two high-pressure key free throws leaving it 60-56, 32 seconds left Trojan lead. From there, Center Grove made free throws down the stretch while the Panthers couldn’t find the bucket. The Lady Panthers lost to the Trojans 57-64.

So far, this squad has had four tough battles this season and unfortunately, three of the four have ended in a loss. The talent is there. The heart is there. And, chemistry continues to grow. Excited to see what lies ahead these next few weeks of play.

The girls travel to Floyd Central this Tuesday (1/09/24), JV starting at 6 PM.

We hope to see you there!