PINE PRAIRIE -- In what was two of the most thrilling games of the season, the Pine Prairie Panthers and Lady Panthers split their two district contests with the Church Point Bears and Lady Bears here Tuesday night.
In the girl’s contest, the Lady Panthers could not hold on to a late two point lead and fell to the Lady Bears 52-50 in a hard fought game between both teams. With the loss, Pine Prairie fell to 4-11 on the year and 0-3 in District 5-3A play.
A back and forth white-knuckled affair in the boys’ contest saw the Panthers take down the Bears 75-74 on a last second shot in overtime. With the win, Pine Prairie improved to 8-5 overall and 1-0 in district competition.
Here is a re-cap of both games.
Pine Prairie (G)
vs. Church Point
The Lady Panthers came out with both the offensive and defensive guns blazing to start the game. Pine Prairie, utilizing a three-quarters trapping press, got two quick baskets to jump out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the game.
Both teams then went cold from the floor, until the Lady Bears found some offense at the 4:22 mark and went on a 7-0 run over the next 2:25. The Lady Panthers answered, closing out the first quarter on a 6-0 run of their own to take a 10-7 lead at the end of the period.
The two teams traded baskets to begin the second quarter. However, Church Point got the best of the deal, hitting on two-three pointers to tie the game at 13-13 with 6:45 left before half.
The Lady Bears would keep that lead for most of the remaining six minutes of the period, until Pine Prairie knocked down the final two buckets to own a 25-22 lead going into the locker room.
Over the first 3:41 of the third quarter, the Lady Panthers produced enough turnovers and easy conversions to increase their lead to seven points, 33-26.
That advantage would stay up until the final 32 seconds of the period, until Church Point rattled off five unanswered points to cut the lead down to 37-35 as the horn sounded.
Pine Prairie found themselves on top throughout the first 6:23 of the final quarter, as they responded to every attempt by the Lady Bears to take over the lead. Despite the valiant efforts of the Lady Panthers, Church Point was able to take over the lead, 50-48, at the 1:00 mark.
Pine Prairie would tie the game with 52 seconds left on a Kameron Zachary-Allen bucket. Never-the-less, the Lady Bears were able to hit the game winner with only 15 ticks of the clock left.
Allen led all scorers with 25 points, while Asia George contributed 14 points.
Pine Prairie (B)
vs. Church Point
This evenly matched contest started the way it ended, with both teams fighting for ownership of the lead.
It was Pine Prairie who would take the early advantage, going up 14-12 over the first six minutes of the game.
However, Church Point was able to knock down the final eight points of the period to take a 20-14 lead.
The Bears continued to own the edge for the beginning 2:25 of the second quarter. Pine Prairie would temporarily gain the lead over the next minute, by draining five points.
But, the fast breaking style of Church Point allowed them to score 12 of the final 17 points in the quarter to take a 37-32 lead heading into the locker room.
That same five point advantage would carry over into the initial 2:15 seconds of the third quarter. Yet, the Panthers found a way to crawl back to within one point, 47-46 at the 3:03 mark. The Bears found a way to get the lead back up to five points and held a 54-49 spread as the period closed out.
The two clubs exchanged baskets to begin the final quarter in regulation, with Church Point owning a 59-53 lead at the 6:08 mark. None-the-less, Pine Prairie picked up the pace both offensively and defensively, creating a 6-0 run over the next 2:27 to tie the game at 59-59.
The game saw several lead changes over the final three and a half minutes, as the last basket in regulation was scored by the Bears with 1:48 to go in the game, creating a 63-63 tie and causing the contest to go into overtime.
It looked as neither team was willing to concede the game, as both squads gained and lost the lead over the vast majority of the extra period.
With the Panthers trailing 74-71 and only 47 seconds left on the clock, Pine Prairie’s Jordan Ardoin scored to cut the lead down to one. At the 15 second mark, Panther guard JJ Sims went to the line to shoot two free throws, but missed both.
The game seemed to be over; however, Pine Prairie was able to get the ball back and with two seconds left on the clock, Isaiah Payne hit a shot in the lane giving the Panthers their first district win of the season.
Payne finished the night with 28, while Raylin Thomas added 18 points and BJ Ardoin chipped in 13 points.