Lady Panthers stall in second half of 46-43 loss to Ware County

PERRY — Perry (8-10, 0-4 Region 1-4A) nearly had ahold of their first region win, but the offense stalled in the second half as Ware County (7-10, 3-1 Region) escaped with a 46-43 victory on Friday.

The Lady Gators’ tough zone defense and size put the Lady Panthers in an early 9-0 hole, but Perry adjusted well.

They closed the first quarter on a 13-2 run after figuring out the 1-3-1 zone and doubling up on size down low to keep Ware County’s Bre Hill in check.

Hill is listed at 6-foot-3 and the Lady Gators leaned on her heavily throughout the game.

“We just tried to make her take tough shots. Shoot her mid-range or wall up,” Perry head coach Austin McIntyre said.

That became increasingly important in the third quarter with Hill being featured often offensively. She scored six of her 14 total points in the period as Ware County all but erased Perry’s 30-23 halftime advantage.

“In the third quarter we actually got misaligned a little bit, and that’s where it hurt us,” McIntyre said. “We were out of position and they took advantage of it. She’s a good player, and she’s definitely a good post.”

Though Hill was an issue, the bigger threat to the Lady Panthers’ lead was their offense freezing up in the second half.

Perry only scored 13 points in the final two quarters, and most of those came in the final minute.

Turnovers and missed jumpers were a contributor, but the Lady Panthers suffered some bad shooting luck, too.

By the time shots started falling again it was too late. Not that the Lady Gators’ lead was too large, but there was not enough time left on the clock.

Kampbell Mitchell tied the game with 22 seconds left, plenty of time, but Ware County’s Lydia Munford delivered on a smothered layup with eight seconds to play.

A timeout gave the Lady Panthers the ball on the half court sideline, but as they tried to loft the ball over Hill it landed in green hands. By the time they fouled there was only half of a second remaining.

“We had good shots. We had shots in the paint, it was just more so getting them to fall in,” McIntyre said. “We’re 19 games in so you want to see it more consistently, but the more we play the better it’s going to get.”

“That’s our thing right now, learning how to play four quarters. We’re playing, like, three right now. If we can find a way to get four, we can compete with anybody.”

UP NEXT

Perry moved their game against Macon County on Saturday, Jan. 24 up to 12:30 p.m. in light of a potential winter storm affecting the Houston County area.

Ware County will head back to The Swamp to play Long County on Saturday, Jan. 24 at 4 p.m.