Bench scoring key to Lady Panthers 56-50 win over Northampton

Lady Panther Veondra Brown (left) challenges Northampton's Briana WIlliams as she makes her way to the basket.

Andre' Jones photo

With Lady Panther leading scorers Adrienne Miles and Hailey Holmes plagued with foul trouble in the first half during a Dec. 12 contest against the invading Northampton Lady Yellow Jackets, Charles City looked to a younger cast to preserve a three-point lead. Not only did the underclassmen hold the lead, but they extended the margin, playing a vital role that led to a 56-50 victory for the hosts.

After the first quarter, Northampton held a 13-11 lead, thanks mainly to Briana Williams who drained back-to-back threes at the end of the frame. Miles’ trifecta coupled with a pair of free throws returned the Lady Panthers to the top of the scoreboard (16-11).

But Miles’ reach-in on a rebound earned her foul number three, forcing Lady Panther head coach VaShaun Otey to pull the leading scorer from the game. The move, however, proved dividends.

Kiandra Randall’s stickback gave the hosts an 18-14 lead. Teammate Veondra Brown drained a jumper that was subsequently followed by junior Meryah Bates’ steal and lay-up, forcing the visitors to call a timeout. Brown and Bates combined for the final nine points in the half to give Charles City a 27-21 halftime lead.

Trailing by 10 early in the third, Williams took charge for the Yellow Jackets, draining a free throw before a lay-in. Holmes’ picked up a technical foul for the hosts, resulting in two more points from the charity stripe. On the ensuing inbound, Williams gathered a miss from a teammate’s shot and finished, cutting the lead to three for the hosts (31-28).

But Miles returned to the game for Charles City, stringing together four straight points and finding teammate Sydney Richard for two more to help maintain the three-point margin heading into the final frame (41-38).

Scoring continued for the hosts, as Miles fed Brown on an assist before Brown swiped the ball from Northampton’s Evelyn Dunton and converted on her own to spark a 9-0 run for the Lady Panthers and give them their largest lead of the game (50-38). The visitors’ final attempt to close the game faded, as Williams fifth foul at the 2:09 mark disqualified her from the game. She watched as Charles City converted free throws to put the game out of reach.

After the game, Otey commented about the need for his team to come out with more energy.

“We played down to that level of competition,” he said. “We were getting beat badly on defense and that got us into foul trouble.

“Our defense responded in the second half and I am proud of how the younger players were able to score,” concluded Otey.

Miles and Holmes finished in double figures for Charles City (3-1), with 17 and 16 points respectively. Bates scored nine, Brown added eight, Richard scored four, and Randall chipped in two for the victors. Williams led all scorers in the game with 25 points.