INMAN, S.C. – On Tuesday evening, the Chapman Panthers continued their first trip through Region III-3A play with a home matchup against the Blue Ridge Tigers.
Both teams battled from start to finish but when the final buzzer sounded, Blue Ridge held off a late rally by the Panthers for a 61-57 victory. Over the first 16 minutes of the contest, neither club held a lead larger than three possessions. Trailing by a point, two Grace McDaniel free throws and a Krislyn Wilder three pointer from the left corner put the Lady Panthers ahead by a 9-5 margin. A steal and layup by Blue Ridge’s Zi Henderson keyed a 10-0 run for the Tigers, which put the Tigers ahead by six points. A couple of moments later, a driving layup by Caroline Garner cut the deficit to 15-11 after one quarter. Trailing by a baker’s dozen entering the final stanza, Chapman put together a late surge. Wilder, Garner, and Gramling each knocked down a three pointer, while Kara Twitty scored seven points from close range to help the Lady Panthers cut the deficit down to one possession with a minute to play. Late in the game, Henderson (who scored a game-high 26 points for the Tigers) knocked down five of six free throw attempts to help Blue Ridge claim the win. “Even though we came up short tonight, we put forth great effort on the court,” said Chapman head coach Leslie Boyd. “Down the stretch, we didn’t execute like we wanted to, but we fought, and we do that every time we step on the court. It’s hard to not come up with a win when the girls play so hard for four quarters. We’ll put that same effort on the court next time (on Friday).” Four Lady Panthers finished in double figures led by Wilder with 20 points. Twitty tallied 13 points to go along with 11 points from Gramling and 10 from Garner. Next up for the Lady Panthers is a road contest against Broome on Friday, January 20th at 6 PM. BOYS – Blue Ridge 76, Chapman 61 The first half between the two sides featured a handful of deadlocks and no lead larger than two possessions. A pair of layups following the halftime break – one apiece by Ryan Hunter and Shawn Cunningham – put Chapman back in front 34-33 less than a minute into the third quarter. On the ensuing Blue Ridge possession, Tucker Massey hit a three pointer and put the Tigers back ahead. Massey also made the next three out of four tries from long distance, which allowed the Tigers to take an eight point lead into the final frame. In the second half, the Tigers made 10 shots from long distance, which helped them secure the win. Isaiah Smith scored a team-high 16 points for Blue Ridge, followed by Massey with 15. Shawn Cunningham finished with a game-high 27 points for Chapman, along with 15 points from Colt McAllister. The Panthers will return to action against Broome on Friday at 7:30 PM. Comments are closed.
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