What began as a commanding 11-4 lead for the West Lowndes girls basketball team after the first quarter turned into a tight 17-17 game headed into the half.
Thanks to 20 turnovers in the first half alone, the Panthers allowed Aliceville (Alabama) to get back into the game, and it stayed that way in the second half.
Both teams were fighting for the lead or trying to stay within striking distance, but all West Lowndes needed to do was settle itself into the contest.
Thanks to the play of senior guard Karizma Phillips, who started sinking shots from beyond the arc, the Panthers got back on track, surging in the fourth quarter and fending off a late Yellow Jackets comeback for a 55-51 victory on Tuesday night.
“Honestly, we’ve been preaching defense, defense, defense and energy because the past few games, we haven’t had that energy like we thought we should have,” West Lowndes head coach Shaquinta Robinson said. “We’re definitely proud of the girls for picking that defense up and that energy up tonight.”
Defense was incredibly important for West Lowndes (3-5), which was able to build up a sizable 6-to-8-point lead in the fourth quarter thanks to steals and easy breakaway opportunities.
The second half was where the offense picked up tremendously as there were some noticeable offensive struggles overall in the first half.
Shots weren’t falling, passes weren’t working, and it just seemed like both teams were compiling poor offensive possession after poor offensive possession, but that all changed in the second half.
That was especially the case for the Panthers and Phillips, who had a team-high 12 points along with freshman guard Deardria Conner in the win.
“We were able to calm down and run our offense right to get most of our big plays,” Phillips said. “We drew fouls and made some free throws, which got us in the game and helped us stay in the game.”
A stretch in the second half saw Phillips knock down two 3s on consecutive possessions, and from there, not only did she gain some confidence, but the team began clicking more consistently.
West Lowndes struggled in the early going but picked up a much-needed win in a tough game against Aliceville.
Like the confidence gained by Phillips as the game matured, the same hopes to progress moving forward for the Panthers.
“For now, we’re going to continue to get pressure going, get in people’s faces to keep our confidence up,” Phillips said. “We just need to take our time on offense and defense, get settled and do as told.”
The Panthers girls take on Louisville in their next game on the road at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Aliceville (Ala.) boys 61, West Lowndes 46
West Lowndes’ boys team was hanging tough with Aliceville on Tuesday night, trailing just 28-27 at half in what was a very closely contested game to that point.
Things took a turn for the worst to begin the third quarter as the Yellow Jackets went on a 14-1 run, going from up one point to up double digits at 42-28.
That sort of offensive surge is exactly the opposite of what the Panthers wanted, and despite semi-comebacks here and there, West Lowndes was unable to keep pace, losing 61-46.
“The first half, I felt like we made some mistakes and it caught up with us in the second half,” West Lowndes head coach Michael Huffman said. “We weren’t aggressive like we needed to. We didn’t get into the offense like we needed to, and we started thinking instead of playing.”
Tuesday’s loss was a tale of two halves as the Yellow Jackets outscored the Panthers 33-19 in the second half.
West Lowndes was making a bit of a run toward the end of the third quarter, a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 10 at 44-34, but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Aliceville to end the third killed any reasonable semblance of a Panthers comeback in the second half.
The Panthers will have to rebound in their next game, traveling to play Kemper County at 7 p.m. Dec. 12.
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