Randall’s triple-double helps Lady Panthers notch first home win of season

Charles City's Tishae Brown (left) forces George Wythe's Jenay Bonaparte into an errant pass.

Andre' Jones photo

For some unknown reasoning to Charles City Lady Panthers head coach VaShaun Otey, his team boasted an undefeated record on the road but remained winless in the confines of their home gym. But behind a triple-double from senior center Kiandra Randall, a double-double from freshman Santaesha Hickman, the hosts survived all comeback attempts from visiting George Wythe’s Lady Bulldogs.

Fighting off a late fourth quarter rally, the Lady Panthers did enough to pull out a 43-39 victory over the visitors in the Dec. 17 contest.

Charles City took control early thanks to Randall’s long jumper and three-pointer from the corner. Hickman joined in with a lay-up and teammate Veondra Brown’s steal and easy basket quickly elevated the hosts to a 9-2 lead.

The Lady Panthers maintained leads of 12-6, 24-19, and 34-25 after the first three quarters and seemed to be in firm control for the game. But George Wythe would challenge the hosts down the stretch.

Four consecutive free throws by Anita Thornton-Freeman cut the Lady Panther lead to five (36-31) with 3:36 showing on the clock. After the hosts built the lead back to eight (41-33), a lay-up from Deanna Martin and two more Thornton-Freeman free throws cut the lead to four (41-37) at the 1:06 mark. That margin shrunk to a mere basket after Satoya Ali’s follow with 58 seconds remaining.

The Lady Bulldogs pressure forced a Charles City turnover with 34.2 on the clock. The visitors got off three shot attempts, with Thornton-Freeman fouled on the last one with 8.8 on the clock. The forward, who had made all six of her free throws in the quarter, missed both shots with Randall grabbing the rebound. The visitors fouled the senior center, sending her to the line with 5.3 seconds remaining. Randall calmly sank both baskets from the charity stripe, giving the hosts breathing room and their first home win.

“This was a big confidence boost for us,” Otey said after the contest. “At first, the girls seemed intimidated by George Wythe’s size, but once they realized they could play with them their confidence grew.”

Otey also commented about how the Lady Panthers held the lead down the stretch.

“It became closer and we had players in that normally don’t find themselves in that position,” he commented. “We didn’t cover the weak side well but we took advantage of our opportunities.”

George Wythe couldn’t say the same thing. The Lady Bulldogs had ample opportunities to win the contest at the free throw line, getting there 28 times. However, they only sank 11. By contrast, Charles City went 10 for 19.

Hickman scored 20 points and hauled in 10 rebounds for a double-double to push the Lady Panthers record over the .500 mark at 4-3. Randall scored 16 points, hauled in 18 rebounds and blocked 13 shots to record a triple-double. Meryah Bates scored three for the victors, while Brown and Kourtney Wyatt rounded out the scoring at two apiece.

Thornton-Freeman scored 16 for the Lady Bulldogs, with eight of them coming in the final quarter.