Lady Panthers Beat Viburnum

The South Iron Lady Panthers beat Viburnum 67-45 during action Jan. 29 in a non-conference game in Annapolis. This was the Lady Panthers only game of the week.

“It was really good to finally get a game in this week,” said Coach Lawrence Graves.  “We haven’t played since last Saturday (Jan. 23), and we really needed to play.  This time of year, there really isn’t a lot of new stuff going in, you just want to be polishing up what all you have.”

South Iron jumped to a 15-7 first-quarter lead. At the half, the Lady Panthers led 18-16. In the third, South Iron was on fire, pumping in 26 points and holding Viburnum to 12. The Viburnum cut into South Iron’s lead in the fourth, outscoring the Lady Panthers 17-13.

“I thought our girls really came out with the right mind-set and intensity,” Graves said.  “We played really hard for 32 straight minutes.  And that’s not easy to do.  Tonight’s game certainly wasn’t our “prettiest” game, but that’s not what it’s really about.  I was super pleased with our performance (despite it not being one of our best offensively) because of the “way” we played.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the stats, but what I saw this evening was six girls playing as one.  That is what basketball is all about.”

Four South Iron players had double-digit scoring. Enzley Dinkins led the offense with 16 points. She had five assists, one block, six rebounds, and four steals.

Maddie Ayers scored 14 points. She had six assists, six rebounds, five steals, and one block.

Alicia Cornell and Anna Parker each scored 10 points. Cornell had one assist, five rebounds, and three steals. Parker had two rebounds and seven steals.

Drew Gayle scored nine points. She pulled down 11 rebounds and had one assist.

Megan Lashley scored eight points. She has six rebounds, one assist, and one steal.

The Lady Panthers shot 51 percent from two-point range and 20 percent from past the three-point arc. From the charity stripe, South Iron shot 60 percent.