Panther girls gas up in the fourth

MT. PLEASANT - The visiting Danville Bears gave the Mt. Pleasant girls a sweat for three quarters on Monday night, but the Panthers knew when to put the pedal to the medal. Mt. Pleasant scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter and ran away with a 50-38 victory.

Mt. Pleasant started out hot. Karsyn Lamm opened the scoring with a corner 3-pointer, Andrea Lopreato had six first quarter points, and the Panthers led 13-6 after the first horn.

The Panthers could only add one point to their lead in the second quarter. Only nine points total were scored in the period, and Mt. Pleasant took an 18-10 lead into halftime.

After two-straight quarters of cold shooting, Danville picked it up in the third quarter. The Bears clawed back to within four, at 29-25, and had momentum heading into the final eight minutes.

That's when the Panthers' leading scorer took over. Lopreato scored 10 points in the first two-and-a-half minutes of the fourth. Mt. Pleasant as a team went on a 12-0 run, and it was 41-25 in the blink of an eye.

'I just realized there's only a certain amount of time left in the game,” Lopreato said. 'It just clicked.”

The sophomore standout was helped out by an aggressive pressure defense that had the Bears turning it over time and time again. Mt. Pleasant was able to push the pace on the defensive end and make the right passes under the basket.

'I thought Ava (Lowery) did really good,” Mt. Pleasant head coach Curt Watson said. 'She made three really good passes in the fourth quarter get Andrea three layups, and that really helped turn the game around.”

The Panthers cruised from that point on. Danville was never able to get the lead back to single digits.

Lopreato finished the night with 21 points, 15 rebounds and six steals. Emma Rugg added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting. Emma Huckabone scored seven. Kenna Lamm had four.

Tristian Shull finished the night with three points and five steals. Karsyn Lamm had three point and four assists. Kate Schimmelpfennig scored two points, and Jacara Ivey had one.

The Panthers were able to frustrate Danville leading scorer Drew Fox all night long. The senior came into the game scoring 11.5 points per game, but tallied just seven.

Rugg, one of the Panther posts who matched up with Fox all night, credited the Panthers' effort to double-team Fox in the post. She also gave credit to a ruckus Panther student section, which was filled up for the first time in a girls game this season.

'It's amazing,” Rugg said. 'They help us a lot, and they put a smile on our faces.”

The Panthers moved to 7-6 overall with the win. They will put their 3-3 Southeast Conference record on the line on Friday when they host Washington (1-12, 1-5).