Charles City Lady Panthers use late three-pointers to pull away from ARGS 34-30

Charles City’s Aalaya King (center) battles ARGS’s Fern Powell (left) and McKenzie Chapman (right) for possession of the ball.

Robb Johnson photo

With most of the cast from last year’s Region 1A semifinalist team returning, Charles City’s Lady Panthers basketball team opened the season Monday night against the visiting Appomattox Regional Governor’s School Lady Dragons. But a quick lesson was learned that going from the hunter to the hunted means that teams will give you their best shot.

Two late three-pointers by the Lady Panthers provided just enough cushion as they topped ARGS 34-30 in the non-district contest.

Charles City started the first quarter early with Kaylee Stewart’s quick score. A three-pointer from all-region selection Jaela Smith and a basket from newcomer Aalaya King gave the hosts a 7-0 lead, with the defense shutting out the Dragons in the first.

Charles City would score four more points before a putback by McKenzie Chapman broke the scoring column for the guests. A small push by the Lady Dragons was enough to keep their deficit at seven (14-7) as the Lady Panthers went into the break.

ARGS continued to gradually cut into Charles City’s advantage, only trailing by four (20-16) heading into the final quarter. The Lady Panthers had ample opportunities to pull away, but woeful shooting at the free throw line kept the Lady Dragons in the contest.

Charles City led by three (25-22) when a wing three-pointer by ARGS’ Kaylin Young tied the game up. The hosts quickly countered, with King banking a three-pointer off the glass in front of her bench to return the lead to the Lady Panthers. After ARGS turned the ball over on the subsequent inbound, a well-designed play allowed Stewart to drain a wide-open trifecta from the corner, pushing Charles City’s lead back to six (31-25).

ARGS would not go away, executing a 5-1 run to cut the game down to a single basket (32-30). But as the visitors drove down the court, a pass was intercepted, leading to Lady Panther Madison Bradby scoring a lay-in as time expired to complete the scoring for the hosts.

After the contest, first year Lady Panthers Head Coach Casey Crawley talked about the corrections his team needs to make.

“We have to see more effort than attitudes,” he said. “It’s a different coaching staff and we have to get rid of some bad habits.

“Tonight, free throws and turnovers were the key to keeping this team in the game,” Crawley added, pointing to the dismal 5-23 effort by the Lady Panthers at the charity stripe. “We need to see the buy-in.”

King’s eight points led Charles City (1-0). The trio of Stewart, Smith, and Sha’Ryan Paige all tossed in seven, Bradby scored four, and Kamari Johnson chipped in with one.