It was an up-and-down, back-and-forth game for the Panther girls Monday night. However, despite a double-digit lead in the first half, it was the Wabasso Rabbits that pulled away in the second half, handing the Panthers their eighth loss of the season, 81-66.
TMB started off quick with a bucket by Melania Ankrum in the first few seconds of the game. However, Wabasso answered with a quick bucket of their own and one of their nine three-pointers on the night to take the lead.
The teams traded baskets throughout the early minutes until the Panthers turned on the full court press. The Rabbits didn’t have an answer for the tight defense and turned it over on the press five times in 1 minute. The Panthers took advantage of the turnovers to go on a 13-0 run that was capped off by Gretchen Lanoue driving to the basket and scoring three times in 28 seconds — six of her 30 points on the night — before Wabasso took a time out to calm down their team.
TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh was happy with the press and how the girls were able to use that to their advantage early.
“The girls did a good job staying connected and playing with each other,” Ashbaugh said. “Off of a lot of those steals, we were quickly getting transition opportunities. Melania Ankrum was doing a really good job of sharing the ball.”
After building a 21-11 lead — the largest of the night for the Panthers — the time out cooled both teams as almost 3 minutes ticked off the clock before Wabasso found the net. That started an 8-2 run of their own as they chipped away at the TMB lead.
The Panthers tried to take the momentum back in the final minutes of the first half with a free throw by Lauren Knakmuhs and baskets by Elsie Knott, Lanoue and Taylor Munson. However, the Rabbits weren’t ready to go quietly and continued to pressure the Panthers including adding their own press and following each Panther score with one or two of their own. With just 58 seconds left in the half, the Rabbits were able to tie the game 39-39.
Both teams came out aggressive in the second half, but the Panthers were set on building back the lead they had lost going into halftime. Lanoue started the scoring with a layup followed by a Wabasso turnover that Ankrum was able to turn into two points. A steal and bucket by Allie Adams followed by another Lanoue basket built the Panther lead to 47-40.
However, that seven-point lead was the largest the Panthers would see in the second half. The Rabbits got right back into things with eight quick points to take a 48-47 lead, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the night.
After going on a 14-0 run, the Rabbits took control in the second half. While the rebounds and shots were falling for Wabasso, the Panthers struggled to keep pace and Wabasso took advantage of their height down low to out-rebound the Panthers and get second chance shots.
Despite the aggressiveness, the Panthers just couldn’t keep pace with the Rabbits late in the game.
“In the first half, we did a good job building a lead, and then just like that the lead was down to just a couple possessions,” Ashbaugh said. “When we were tied at half, we hoped to weather the storm. They did a good job in the beginning of the second half of making adjustments and getting turnovers again, finishing and converting off that. But once again we just seemed to lose focus. and Wabasso did a good job of making us pay when we lost focus.”
After both teams traded turnovers, the Panthers started to come back, taking the lead down to eight with two Lanoue free throws, but couldn’t get any closer.
The Panthers were led by Lanoue with 30 points including 6-8 from the free throw line and Ankrum with 11.
The Panthers were outrebounded 36-22.
The Panthers (3-8, 1-4 in the Camden) will round out this week with two homes games: today (Dec. 8) against Dawson-Boyd, and Friday against YME — that game will follow the 6 p.m. boys’ game.
Wabasso 39 42 — 81 TMB 39 27 — 66 Wabasso
A Johnson 2-5 0-0 6, K. Samyn 7-13 0-3 15, K. Johnson 2-3 1-1 5, Guetter 9-12 3-4 21, Bliss 1-5 2-2 5, A. Samyn 6-15 2-4 14. Totals: 31-55 8-14 81. Three-pointers: 9-21. Assists: 24. Rebounds: 36. Blocks: 3. Steals: 10. Turnovers: 25.
TMB
Lanoue 11-5 6-8 30, Ankrum 5-13 1-4 11, Munson 1-4 1-2 4, Kirk 2-6 2-2 6, Knakmuhs 0-1 1-2 1, Knott 3-5 0-0 6, Adams 2-9 1-2 6, DOlan 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 25-56 12-20 66. Three-pointers: 4-20 (Lanoue 2-5, Munson 1-3, Adams 1-3, Ankrum 0-3, Kirk 0-3, Knakmuhs 0-1, Dolan 0-2. Assists: 15 (Ankrum 7, Lanoue 2, Knakmuhs 2, Adams 2, Kirk, Knott). Rebounds: 22 (Adams 5, Ankrum 5, Knott 4, Kirk 2, Dolan,
Knakmuhs, Lanoue). Assists: 15 (Ankrum 7, Lanoue 2, Knakmuhs 2, Adams 2, Kirk, Knott). Blocks: 1 (Dolan). Steals: 17 (Ankrum 6, Adams 4, Lanoue 3, Knott 2, Kirk, Knakmuhs).
