The #8 ranked Whitharral Lady Panthers squared off against the Sands Lady Stangs in a Bi-District playoff basketball matchup at Tahoka High School this past Monday, resulting in the Lady Panthers getting a dominant 52-22 win to earn the Bi-District Championship.
The Lady Panthers came out burning hot, exiting the first quarter with a 24-2 lead, and entering halftime with a 38-6 lead, and from that point on, they were on cruise control to the Gold Ball securing victory.
“The girls really bought into what we’ve done this past week. We’ve been prepping for it, and we knew our defense was going to be the key,” Lady Panthers Head Basketball Coach Madison Ortega said. “That’s what our identity is for being such a small group, that we’re going to take it to them on defense and do our best. We knew if we did that, we would come out with a win.” They executed their identity to perfection in their firstround playoff matchup, as their defensive pressure was too much for Sands to handle, and specifically it was the Lady Panthers’ full court press that was dominant.
Coach Ortega noted that the defensive traps were the game plan early on, and that plan flourished as it led to countless easy buckets on offense, which quickly put the game out of reach.
Those defensive efforts led to double-digit scoring efforts from Paige Smith and Aerieana Rodriguez, as Smith scored 21 points behind 8/11 free throws made and Rodriguez scored 12 points.
Other Lady Panthers scorers included Sheridan Neal with seven points powered by a 5/7 free throw effort, Kalyn Bates with six points behind two three-pointers made, Aaliyah Sanchez with four points and Valeria Frias with two points.
The win marks the Lady Panthers 11th straight and improves them to 26-7 overall this season and advances them to the Area Round of the playoffs.
The Lady Panthers are set to face Petersburg at Littlefield High School over the weekend, who are 22-10 overall and the 1A District 7 Champions.
Heading into that matchup, Coach Ortega wants her girls to replicate their defensive intensity while increasing their offensive efficiency by taking better care of the basketball and running offensive sets more cleanly.