It was a tough ending for the Daviess County girls’ basketball team, as a late lead slipped away and they suffered a 47-45 loss at home Tuesday to McLean County.
The Lady Panthers (4-16) were on fire from 3-point range early, hitting six in the first 11 minutes en route to a 24-8 lead early in the second quarter. The Lady Cougars (9-11) fought back to cut the halftime deficit to 27-17 and continued to chip away in the second half.
A 3-pointer from Claire Johnson and a pair of free throws from Kailey Bowers pushed the Daviess County lead back to 10 points to start the third, but McLean County cut the lead to 36-32 before Johnson added her fourth bucket from long range. The Lady Cougars got a shot to fall at the buzzer to trim the Lady Panthers’ lead to 39-32 entering the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer from Shealyn Mason and a free throw from Katie Mewes had Daviess County up 43-37 with just under six minutes to play, and the Lady Panthers started running the clock down. A possession lasting more than a minute ended with a layup by Mewes with 4:23 to go, but it ended up being the last score of the game for Daviess County.
McLean County was able to get stops and capitalize at the other end, tying the game with a jumper with less than two minutes on the clock. Turnovers by each team left the Lady Panthers with the ball, though the Lady Cougars got another steal with 14.3 seconds left.
McLean County then scored on an inbounds pass under the basket, and Daviess County missed the last-second shot to tie.
Head coach John Kirkpatrick said the team needs more experience with close games and said he probably started trying to run the clock down to early in the fourth.
“We need to be put in those situations a little bit more,” he said. “I think I probably initiated the layup game a little too early and emphasized shot selection. I think we got a little passive, and I’ll take that blame. When you get in that game mode, a lot of things don’t go your way. I think that’s kind of a prime example of what happened tonight.”
The Lady Panthers have come a long way since the beginning of the year. In their last six contests, they had a three-game win streak, a pair of 2-point losses and an overtime loss to Owensboro. While he’d like to have come out ahead in all those games, Kirkpatrick said he’s proud of the team’s progress.
“I think our kids play with heart and play with grit,” he said. “We’re just going to keep playing and get ready for Hancock County on Thursday. I’m proud of our effort and I feel strong going forward.”
Scoring
McLean Co. 4-13-17-13–47
Daviess Co. 15-12-12-6–45
Daviess Co.: Claire Johnson 14, Emma Anderson 12, Kailey Bowers 10, Shealyn Mason 6, Katie Mewes 3
Up next: Daviess County vs. Hancock County, Thursday
