The Perry Panthers got off to a slow start but are starting to show signs of growth

Just before tip-off of the Perry Lady Panthers/Mary

Persons Lady Bulldogs game Friday night Panthers head coach and former Lady

Panthers head coach Reginald West made his way around the bowels of the new

on-campus gymnasium. West was getting things together before his team was

scheduled to hit the court following what would ultimately be a 56-32 victory

for the Lady Panthers, winners of five of their last six and are now 5-6 and

2-2 in Region 2-4A under first-year head coach Sherry Richards. The Panthers on

the other hand, 3-8 and 1-2 in region, have not been as successful as their

female counterparts this season and there are many reasons for that. 

Reason number one: Perry got off to a slow start,

losing six of their first seven games of the season before regrouping to win

two of three at the Mary Persons holiday tournament just before the new year.

That glimpse of success -the Panthers defeated Crisp County and Monticello, respectively-

has West, usually positive, in an even better mood these days. 

Reason number two: The Panthers have no seniors and

only two juniors, guards Jakhius Jackson and Kendrez Hampton, on what is their

youngest teams in some time. “We had to work on our defense,” said West. “We

have really gotten better and I saw that when we played three games up there in

the tournament. I’m dressing out four freshman and now all four are in the

rotation. Everything is slowing down for them.” Freshman guards Amar Gordon and

Caleb Wilson are playing more and learning as they go according to their coach.

“We are starting to get some guys garnishing more minutes and becoming more

productive on the floor,” said West. “Amar Gordon is starting to pick it up a

little bit. At first Caleb Wilson wasn’t getting a whole lot of minutes but he

has really stepped up for us.”

Reason number three: Sophomores Dae’Quan Wright and

Cameron Nelson are still finding their way as team leaders. “Dae’Quan seems to

be getting his basketball legs and with each game he’s getting better,” said

West of Wright who plays a major role on the football team as well. “He’s

starting to hit his second gear. Cameron’s minutes are starting to go up.” That

group of newcomers also includes 6-foot-9 inch center Aaron Jones.

The last two games, both region games, were losses

for the Panthers (64-58 to Howard Tuesday and 81-73 to Mary Persons Friday) and

West has an idea why the struggles are continuing through the new year and in

particular through the region schedule. “They are struggling with making

mistakes at times where we don’t need to make mistakes as an inexperienced

team,” said West. “They leave it all out on the court and what people tell me

about this team is that they play their hearts out for 32 minutes and you can’t

ask more from a team to play their hearts out for 32 minutes.”

West is preaching belief to his young team and with

the losses mounting he knows that can be a tough sell. “They are starting to

believe in the system, when you’re struggling it’s tough, but having some

success in that tournament was a big break for us.”

The Panthers are tied with Howard at the bottom of

the region standings and will play at Spalding Tuesday night. The Jaguars, 2-2

in region and 4-3 at home, lost at Upson-Lee Friday. The region is still up for

grabs, meaning there’s still a shot at the Panthers making the state

playoffs. 

“Next year our freshmen will be sophomores and our

sophomores will be juniors, we just need to weather the storm,” said

West. 

HHJ News