Panthers can’t overcome turnovers, huge third quarter run by King William

King William's Dylan Leach releases a hook shot over Panther defenders Tyler Allen (5) and Noah Ragland (1).

Andre' Jones photo

After battling from multiple double-digit deficits throughout the first half, Charles City’s Panthers chipped into visiting King William’s lead to cut it to six at the 6:12 mark of the third quarter.

But the next dozen trips on the offensive side of the floor for the hosts resulted in 12 consecutive turnovers and no shot attempts, while the visiting Cavaliers orchestrated a 20-0 run to put the contest out of reach and cruise to an 81-47 Jan. 12 victory.

Early on in the contest it looked like the visitors would run away from the Panthers. Four different Cavaliers scored within the first three minutes to put the guests up 12-0. A Rashawn Shine basket for the hosts snapped the streak, but the Panthers found themselves trailing 23-8 after the first quarter. King William maintained a double-digit lead as they headed into the halftime break up 34-23.

After Cavalier guard Tresean Mickens connected with a floater to open up the third quarter, Charles City’s utilization of a 1-3-1 zone began to discombobulate the visitors. In turn, the hosts became more efficient eluding pressure from King William. Back-to-back lay-ins by Panther guards Noah Ragland and Kyle Jones cut the deficit back to single digits (36-27). After a King William score, senior guard Brian Hicks converted a traditional three-point play to shrink the margin to eight. The Cavaliers’ lead got even smaller after Kyle Jones tip-toed down the sideline and baseline for a lay-up, placing the Panthers in prime position at 38-32.

But the Panthers cohesiveness faded away on the next 12 trips down the floor, resulting in multiple turnovers and the inability to hoist a shot to the rim. Meanwhile, King William’s Dylan Leach would score nine of his team’s points in a 20-0 run that returned a huge lead to the guests (58-34) to end the third. Charles City failed to get any closer than 26 points the rest of the contest, falling to 0-11 and remaining winless on the year.

“When we made that run, we were breaking the press by the pass and getting easy lay-ups,” said interim head coach Avery Jones. “But then we tried to dribble through it and that really begin to mess us up.

“You can tell we were trusting each other during that run when we got back within six, but the moment we tried to do things without using one another it came back and hurt us,” he concluded.

The Panthers were led by Jones’ 13 points as they continue to search for win number one on the year. Ragland added seven for the hosts, Mason Jefferson pumped in six, Ray Crump dropped in five, Shine and Conner Robbins tossed in four apiece, Brian Hicks and Michael Callahan scored three, and Tyler Allen chipped in with two.

King William’s Leach led all scorers in the game with 20 points.