By T. Scott Boatright
The Lady Panthers scratched and clawed until the final horn, but turnovers by Lincoln Preparatory School and a strong finish at the free-throw line led fourth-seeded Sacred Heart to a 67-56 home win Monday night in second-round play of the Division IV Girls Select School basketball tournament.
Lincoln Prep started strong, trailing only 15-12 after the opening stanza of play thanks in large part to Synniah Spann, who totaled eight points and Shedrenna Green, who added six in the opening eight minutes of the game.
The Lady Bulldogs’ Kali Shiver dominated in the paint in the second quarter, pouring in 10 points after scoring four in the opening stanza to help Sacred Heart outscore Lincoln Prep 22-12 in the period to give Sacred Heart a 37-24 advantage at intermission.
But the Lady Panthers roared back in the third quarter, outscoring Sacred Heart 17-9 in that period to cut the Lady Bulldogs’ lead to 46-41 heading into the final eight minutes of play.
“We outscored them 17-4 to pull within three at one point and give us a chance going down the stretch in the fourth quarter,” said Lady Panthers coach Fred Hearn. “But my young guards kind of got caught up in the moment in the fourth quarter with three or four turnovers that led to Heart pulling back out to a solid lead.
“So then it came down to fouls. We fouled them — we had to —- but they were hot at the free-throw line when they needed to be. And that was pretty much the ballgame. Our guards are really young and I guess a combination of running out of gas and getting frustrated got to them late in the game.”
That doesn’t mean Hearn isn’t proud of a season that saw his Lady Panthers go 10-20 after winning only three games last season.
“I’m very proud of these girls,” Hearn said. “One thing this team showed is that they’re going to fight until the end, no matter what the score is.
“We got to the point where we had to play the fouling game, and give credit to Sacred Heart because they hit those free throws. They hit shots and they definitely hit free throws.”
Sacred Heart made good on eight of 12 shots from the charity stripe in the final stanza and was led by Shriver with a game-high 20 points.
Spann followed close behind with 19 points for the Lady Panthers, including five 3-pointers with four of those coming in the second half, while Jayleen Spann totaled 13 points for Lincoln Prep, which also received 10 each from Asijah Wright and Green.
“It’s not the way we wanted it to end, but we showed we have this program headed in the right direction,” Hearn said. “And those young players we have now are going to do a lot of growing up after tonight. I’m proud of the way they’ve fought all season long and feel good about the future.”
