Last night, the lady Panthers battled against El Diamante with a home-court advantage. Unfortunately, they fell short of their goal by a three-point deficit of 46-43 as the Miners secured the win over the Panthers. Porterville went into the game undefeated, holding a record of 3-0 after a blowout against Golden West on Tuesday. El Diamante clocked in with a record of 2-1, Monache being their only loss.

Throughout the whole game, it was a close matchup. Center, Ryleigh Schoonover, scored 3/4ths of the Panthers’ points in the first quarter, attaining nine and ending the game, knocking up a total of 20 points. The Panthers were up 12-10 at the end of the first quarter. The lady Panthers were well off on the defensive end, playing aggressively and trapping at the corners while in their full-court press.

El Diamante could only bring the ball down the court by intentionally throwing it off the Panthers’ feet when they were trapped on the sidelines. This kept resulting in an attempt for El D to pass the ball back in as it was drawn out of bounds on the Panthers. At half time, Porterville was up by four, ending the half 25-21.

Panthers gave it their all during the second half. Despite El D being in a 2-2-1 full-court press, Panthers were able to break it, finding good looks to guard Andrea Perez as she took the ball down the middle of the court. The Panthers were outstanding off the defensive glass, getting the rebounds and creating good transitions to their teammates down low on the other end. However, they could not finish at the basket, only acquiring six points in the third quarter. Ryleigh was continuously sent to the free-throw line as she kept getting fouled down low. Boo’s from the crowd erupted as calls from the refs were questionable from the guests’ perspective on the home side.

Andrea fought hard till the end, being aggressive on both ends of the court, getting two back-to-back steals as El D passed it in, trying to finish at the goal. With a minute and forty seconds remaining, Perez scored a three-pointer to tie the game. El Diamante reacted the same way when they got the ball on their end and scored from behind the arc to gain the lead again. Porterville kept sending El D to the free throw line with only seconds remaining, as fouls kept being called in the paint. Although many shots didn’t go in, enough fell in for El Diamante to take the win over the Panthers.

The Panthers are now 3-1 and still have plenty to play. The ladies look forward to next week as they play against their hometown rivals, Monache, who is currently undefeated. Make sure to go out and support your fellow lady Panthers as they take on the Marauders Monday, January 23rd, away.