Third quarter run propels Mathews over Lady Panthers

Mathews' Mariah Robinson (15) attempts to haul in a rebound while being surrounded by Lady Panthers Kiandra Randall (20), Sydney Richard (2), and Veondra Brown.

Andre' Jones photo

After a Meryah Bates lay-up at the 6:12 mark of the third quarter, Charles City’s Lady Panthers held a 20-16 lead over a Mathews team that had entered the contest unblemished. But a shift in strategy by the visiting Lady Blue Devils resulted in a change of momentum and a lead the visitors would not only regain, but never relinquish for the rest of the contest.

Switching to a 1-3-1 defense, Mathews forced the hosts into five turnovers and seven personal fouls to spark a 14-0 run within a four-minute frame as the Blue Devils topped Charles City 47-33 in the Tidewater District opener for both teams.

After Mathews opened the game 4-0, Lady Panther freshman Santaesha Hickman would get the Lady Panthers on the board with a couple of free throws. Hickman would convert back-to-back lay-ups to give the hosts a 6-5 lead heading into the second quarter.

In quarter two, it was Charles City senior Kiandra Randall who joined Hickman to help with the scoring duties. After Mathews’ Maria Spadacinni converted a jumper to give the guests a three-point lead (11-8), Randall responded with a putback off a teammate’s miss and followed it up with a corner jumper. On the next trip down, Randall would grab an offensive rebound and find Hickman for a jumper to give the hosts a three-point advantage. They would take that margin into halftime (16-13) as the duo accounted for all of the hosts’ first half scoring.

Lady Blue Devil Savanna Wooten knotted the game at 16 with a trifecta after the halftime break before Hickman’s free throws and Bates’ lay-in would give the hosts their largest lead of the night (20-16).

But a change in defense by Mathews forced the Panthers into careless turnovers. Spadacinni would tie the game on a lay-in before teammate Hailey Duncan’s jumper would put the Blue Devils on top to stay. Spadaccini would score the final six points of the 14-0 run to give the guests their first double-digit lead of the game at 30-20 before a Hickman free throw at the 2:16 mark would snap the scoring streak.

Charles City’s last run to get back into the game was led by senior Sydney Richard who converted two baskets from the charity stripe and followed them up with a wing three-pointer to cut the deficit to seven (35-28). But Spadacinni’s offense would be too much for the guests, as she pumped in six of Mathews’ final eight points to put the game out of reach.

After the contest, Lady Panther head coach VaShaun Otey commented about the flow of the game and how it was a tale of two halves.

“In the first half, we were more into the game,” the coach said. “In the second half, we came out sluggish.

“Mathews wasn’t 4-0 for no reason,” Otey continued, mentioning the speech he made at halftime. “We made great defensive plays but we didn’t finish it off by rebounding the ball.

“Tonight, they [Mathews] wanted it more, and we’ve got to pay attention to details in the future,” concluded Otey.

Hickman tied for a game-high scoring honors with 18 points to lead Charles City (2-3). Randall finished with seven, Richard tossed in five, Bates scored two, and Veondra Brown chipped in one.

Spadacinni’s 18 points led the Blue Devils, who remain undefeated at 5-0.