JV Panthers defeated in aggressive battle
Additional stories by Ashton Long
More stories from Ashton Long
One of the top scoring sophomore players dribbles the ball down the court. Starr’s Mill was able to score most of their points in the beginning of the second half, but could not handle the full court pressure from the Chiefs.
Coming off of defeating Newnan 49-20, the Panthers fell to rival McIntosh 58-52 in the JV boys’ version of the Battle of the Bubble. The game was aggressive throughout, but turned physical late in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jabian Lynch took over on offense, and scored the most points for the Mill with 12.
A Panther tries to pass the ball to a teammate. The JV Panther boys managed to keep momentum in the first half of the game due to good clean passes, but the game became more aggressive in the second half which caused them to lose control of the ball and the lead.
“We [have] to take care of the ball,” head coach Kerry Evert said. “We couldn’t the handle pressure and we turned the ball over too much.”
The Panthers started off with good clean passes, but suffered a few turnovers and missed free throws. Despite the errors, the Panther maintained the lead and momentum. It took several Chief timeouts in the second quarter to slow the game and keep it within reach. The Panthers led 20-13 after the first quarter.
“We have to work on press break,” sophomore Jabian Lynch said. “We need to work on [turnovers] at practice next time.”
In the second half of the game, the Chiefs applied a full court press and the Panthers struggled turning the ball over six times in the third quarter. The added pressure and an increase in the physicality of the game proved to be too much for the Panthers to handle. They surrendered hte lead late in the fourth quarter and could not recover. The game ended 58-53 in favor of the visiting Chiefs.
“We got really nervous and we were not ready for the pressure,” Lynch said.
The Panthers play again at 6 p.m. on Dec. 18 against Newnan in the Panther Pit.
