Lady Panthers lose fourth-straight game with loss to Carver
Published 6:46 pm Sunday, January 21, 2018
- Americus-Sumter guard Deasia Ford with the ball against a Carver defender
COLUMBUS – It didn’t take long for the Lady Tigers of Carver to overwhelm Americus-Sumter and take control of the game. Carver outscored the Lady Panthers 13-4 in the first quarter and never looked back on their way to a 76 -41 drubbing over Americus-Sumter.
For Americus-Sumter, it is their fourth loss in a row in the region, dropping the Lady Panthers to 14-5 overall and 4-4 in Region 1-AAAA play.
“We played horrible. We didn’t execute. They (Carver) took us out of what we were trying to do”, ASH Head Coach Sherri Harris said. “We missed some easy baskets early, and that took us out of context. When you miss easy baskets…wide-open layups, that throws you off as a team or an individual. The struggle started right after that.”
The Lady Panthers had two scorers in double-figures. Jykiera Long and Brianna Pope each scored 13 points to lead the Lady Panthers. The next closest scorer for Americus-Sumter was Nyja Carson with five points. For Carver, they had four players who scored in double-figures. Maria Igus and Kionna Gaines each scored 13 points to lead the Lady Tigers. Janay Lovehill scored 12 points and Olivia Cochran scored 11.
By halftime, the Lady Panthers found themselves down 30-14. They were cold from the field for much of the first half while Carver was able to make most of their shot-attempts, leading to the big lead.
Carver took total control in the second half, increasing their lead to as much as 26 points. They did this by using full-court pressure to disrupt the Lady Panthers’ offense. The Lady Panthers were not able to solve the defense of the Lady Tigers. By the 2:36 mark of the fourth quarter, Carver enjoyed a 68-36 bulge.
Carver continued to put pressure on Americus-Sumter, even with a 70-40 lead with a little more than a minute to go in the game. Carver’s Kionna Gaines hit a three-pointer with about a minute left to increase the lead to 73-40. The Lady Tigers put the icing on the cake when Jimia Cobb hit a three-pointer, making the final score 76-41 Carver.
The Lady Panthers will try to stop the bleeding Tuesday night when they travel to Cairo on Tuesday, followed by a home game against Hardaway on Friday.
