PINE PRAIRIE -- The Pine Prairie Lady Panther’s promising playoff berth came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Richwood Thursday night, as the Lady Rams dominated Pine Prairie 54-38 in an aggresive defensive showing.
The Lady Panthers ended their season with an overall record of 20-12. Richwood advances on to the next round of the Class 2A playoffs and will face Madison Prep on Monday.
“I am very proud of the way the team played all year long,” stated Pine Prairie head coach Renotta Edwards. “We fought hard this season and improved every week. Obviously we are disappointed with the loss, but we can take this as a learning tool and get ourselves ready for next year. I would like to thank the fans for their support all season long.”
The first period was rather competitive, with neither team trying to show their opponent too much at the start. The Lady Rams were the first to get things going with a lay-up for a quick two points.
Soon after,
Pine Prairie answered back with a lay-up of their own to tie the game. Following the two initial scores, Richwood went on to score six unanswered points to earn a 8-2 lead with 5:34 remaining in the opening quarter.
The two teams traded baskets over the next minute of play. The Lady Panthers got it together on the defensive side of the floor, creating turnovers that led to easy transition buckets.
In the following two minutes of play, Pine Prairie went on a 6-0 run that allowed them to tie the game at 10-10 with 2:32 left in the first period. Just as they had earlier in the quarter, the Lady Rams took control of the game, knocking down the final six points of the period to go up 16-10 as time ran out in the first quarter.
Going into the second period, the Lady Rams decided to turn things up defensively, and it worked very much in their favor, with Richwood dominating the period. The Lady
Rams busted out for nine straight points before Pine Prairie could get their first basket.
Following the Lady Panthers’ bucket, Richwood finished the period with a 3-2 edge to give the Lady Rams a 28-14 lead heading into halftime.
Richwood opened the third quarter the way they had in the second quarter, with tough defense and easy points. During the first two minutes, the Lady Rams owned the paint, out scoring Pine Prairie 6-2 to take a 34-16 lead.
The Lady Panthers gathered themselves long enough to reel off the next seven points, cutting the lead down to 34-23. However, Richwood did not blink, collecting the final 14 points of the period to extend their lead to 48-23 as the third quarter came to a close.
The Lady Panthers had their best period yet going into to final quarter as the Lady Rams began to slow down. After Richwood scored an initial three points, Pine Prairie scored nine points in a row, setting the score at 51-32 with 3:42.
The Lady Panthers finished out the game with a 6-3 edge, but it was too little too late, as Richwood was up by too big of a margin.
Asia George led the way for the Lady Panthers with 19 points. Kameron Allen added seven points in the loss.
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SYLIS MANUEL Staff Writer