On February 24, the Starr’s Mill girls basketball team hosted the St. Pius Lions in the first round of the AAAA state playoffs. The two teams battled well into the fourth quarter before the Panthers pulled away for a 52-43 win.
“We’ve been working hard all season, so when things get hard, we just fall back on our preparations and habits we’ve built all season,” senior Sophia Olson said.
The Lady Panthers started the game strong with an immediate six-point lead. However, the Lions were quick to counter and tie the game at 7-7 before pulling forward. The first quarter ended with Starr’s Mill leading against St. Pius 15-14.
During the back and forth throughout the first quarter, junior Lindsey Kopacek earned her 1,000th career rebound. She had already surpassed the 1,000 career point mark earlier this season.
“It was all the things that coach and my parents encouraged me to keep doing and just daily deposit,” Kopacek said. “This game is like an investment.”
Throughout the second quarter, the Lady Panthers maintained a small lead that did not extend beyond four points. Starr’s Mill held a two-point lead at halftime, 28-26.
Coming back from the break, St. Pius tied up the score at 28-28. The two teams battled back and forth throughout the early part of the third quarter. Starr’s Mill pulled ahead to end the quarter with a four-point lead, 36-32.
The Lions took the lead earlier in the final quarter and moved ahead to be up seven points with two and a half minutes remaining in the game. The Panthers, however, were quick to retaliate, turning that seven-point lead into five with less than two minutes left on the clock.
Olson hit two three-point shots to help tie the game at 41 before the Panthers took control of the final minutes.
“Our point guard stepped up,” head coach Brandon Cerezola said. “She played with composure, she found the open man, she saw the open floor, and she took those open shots.”
With new found momentum late in the final quarter, the Panthers were finally able to pull away at the end and win 52-43.
With the win, the girls set a new team record for wins in a single season.
The Panthers travel to Jones County on February 27 for the second round of the state playoffs. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.