Drish’s hot start sinks Panther girls

Things didn't feel right from the start in Mt. Pleasant's Southeast Conference home game against Fairfield on Friday night. Trojan sharp-shooter Shaylin Drish knocked down four three-pointers in the first eight minutes and the Panthers could never recover, falling 62-43.

Drish scored 15 points in the first quarter to lead the Trojans to a 19-12 lead. Isabel Ashton dropped seven in the first for Mt. Pleasant, and Maddie Williamson added five to keep the Panthers in it, but Mt. Pleasant was in an early hole.

'She was on fire,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson said about Drish. 'We just didn't get there when we should've gotten there a few times. They run a pretty good offense and they got it around to her and she knocked them down.”

The Panthers fell behind by double digits in the second quarter. Drish had 20 at the break for Fairfield. Ashton had nine for Mt. Pleasant, and the Panthers trailed 31-17 at the half.

Offense picked up for Mt. Pleasant in the seccond half, but Fairfield continued their hot shooting streak. The Panthers eventually ran out of time and lost their third SEC game of the year.

'We've got to make more shots,” Watson said after the game. 'We came out at halftime and I think we got it down to 12, and we missed two layups. We could have gotten it down below double figures, and then they hit a three, I think, and it went back up. We've just got to finish.”

Ashton scored 14 points to lead the Panthers. Lydia Stewart scored nine. Williamson finished with eight. Sadie Carrasco had seven. Sydni Coleman and Karsyn Lamm scored two points apiece, and Elli Liechty had one.

Drish had 26 for Fairfield. Destiny Gridley scored 11. Darby Kaska and Malory Jones had six each, and Danielle Breen had five.