Lady Panthers fall at home to Logan County

December 11, 2018 | 11:47 pm

Updated December 13, 2018 | 1:45 am

Daviess County's Ella Payne shoots against Logan County on Tuesday. | Photo by Marc Ray

The Daviess County girls’ basketball team played for the second time in as many nights on Tuesday, falling at home in a tight contest with Logan County. The Lady Panthers (0-5) had a two point lead at the half but ultimately lost to the Lady Cougars (4-2) 46-34.

Scoring proved difficult for both teams, who found themselves knotted up at 18-18 with 2:02 to play in the first half. After being fouled on a 3-point shot, Katie Mewes knocked down two shots shots at the charity stripe. Seconds later Ella Payne found herself at the line, where she made both to give the Lady Panthers their largest lead of the night at 22-18. A Logan County bucket on their final possession of the half cut the Daviess County lead to two at halftime.

Daviess County vs. Logan County | Photo by Marc Ray
Daviess County vs. Logan County | Photo by Marc Ray

After the break, Logan County switched up their offensive gameplan, giving more looks to Kennedy Nichols in the post. The Lady Panthers struggled to stop Nichols, who scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the third quarter. Foul trouble prevented Brooklyn Daugherty and Kailey Bowers from playing their normal minutes down low, opening up the lane for Nichols to exploit.

Daviess County head coach John Kirkpatrick was proud of his team after the loss despite dropping their fifth game in a row.

“We put ourselves in a position to win this game,” Kirkpatrick said. “We played well defensively. If we could limit the turnovers and do better at rebounding the basketball, I think we could have won this game. It’s the little things that are beating us right now. If we can partner made shots with ball control and rebounding, we will be a tough out.”

A bright spot for the Lady Panthers’ offense came by way of a strong shooting performance from Claire Johnson, who is one of only two seniors on the team. Johnson made three 3-pointers in the game and finished with a team-high nine points on the night.

“Shooting is a big part of my game,” Johnson said. “I’ve kind of been in a slump to start the season, but the last two games have helped me break out of that. My teammates helped me to get open looks as they drove into the lane and made some good passes. I think we need to do more driving and penetrating the defense next game.”

Kirkpatrick echoed Johnson’s sentiment. He said he feels as though his team has a chance to give Owensboro Catholic a competitive game on Friday night as hosts of the  9th District matchup.

“We’re going to get back in the gym tomorrow to prepare for Catholic on Friday,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re going through some growing pains as a team, but we’ll work on handling the ball a little better and managing turnovers in practice and do everything we can to give it our best shot next game.”

Daviess County Stats: Claire Johnson (9 points), Ella Payne (8 points), Katie Mewes (7 points), Kailey Bowers (4 points), Emma Anderson (3 points), Mille Roberts (3 points).

December 11, 2018 | 11:47 pm

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