Lady Blues JV Red wins in Seymour

The Lady Blues junior varsity red team fought off a late surge Tuesday night at Seymour to open 2023 with a win over the JV Lady Panthers, 26-25. After taking a seven-point lead into halftime, the Lady Panthers fought back to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter. The Lady Blues held on for the win.

Scoring was difficult to come by in the opening quarter with Evie May scoring the game’s first points with 5:43 remaining. Her basket came from an assist by Briley Randall. The Lady Panthers responded with five points in 20 seconds to take their only lead of the game. May closed out the quarter with five points to take a 7-5 lead into the second quarter. May scored all seven of the Lady Blues’ first-quarter points.

May opened the second quarter with the final field goal of the game, at the 6:39 mark. Her score increased the Lady Blues’ lead to four points. Defensively, the Lady Blues held the Lady Panthers without a field goal until the 1:06 mark of the quarter. One free throw, with 4:50 left in the half, marked their only point in that time. The Lady Blues outscored the Lady Panthers 9-4 in the second quarter. After a pair of missed free throws at the 3:30 mark, Randall scored five points in just under a minute to give her team a 14-6 lead. Following the Lady Panthers’ basket, Rebekah Gilbertson scored on an inbound pass from Tara Dawson with 38 seconds remaining in the half.

Both teams struggled to score to open the second half. Hallie Gough scored her lone field goal of the game following her offensive rebound just under two minutes into the third quarter. Gough’s basket was the Lady Blues’ only points until Randall scored on an inbound pass from Dawson with 1:55 remaining in the quarter. The Lady Panthers were able to cut the deficit to three points with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining in the quarter.

After closing the third quarter and opening the fourth quarter with 3-pointers, the Lady Panthers drew even 25 seconds into the final quarter. Randall responded with a successful and-one opportunity with five minutes left in the game. Another 3-pointer by the Lady Panthers tied the game for a final time with 4:36 remaining. Gough made 1 of 2 free throws and Dawson scored her team’s final field goal with 3:50 remaining in the game for a 26-23 lead.

The game’s final basket was scored by the Lady Panthers with 3:24 left on the clock. The Lady Panthers had one last chance to win the game in the closing seconds. It was a smart defensive play by Gough that sealed the win for the Lady Blues. Gough drew a foul by taking a charge on a drive with 2.4 seconds remaining in the game. The foul gave the Lady Blues the final possession to hold on to the one-point victory.

Randall led the Lady Blues with 11 points. May scored nine points, all in the first half. Gough added three points while both Gilbertson and Dawson scored two points each.

The JV Lady Blues return to action Tuesday, Jan. 10 when they open the district schedule at home against Stephenville. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 at Graham High School.