Panther sophomore Kiele Riefenstahl playing tight defense against the Salisbury Falcons.
The growing pains of the Saucon Valley girls’ basketball team continue. Once again the Lady Panthers found themselves stumbling out of the gate and trying to gain traction in a Colonial League game. Maybe it was the extended holiday break or maybe it was the quickness and speed of the Salisbury Falcons. Whatever the reason, the early deficit was just too much for these young Panthers to overcome.
The game started with the Panthers hustling and playing pretty good defense. However, the lack of scoring doomed the Panthers from the start. The Lady Falcons took advantage of Panther missed shots and turnovers to gradually build a 10-0 lead. It wasn’t until the 2:10 mark of the 1st quarter that the Panthers finally got on the scoreboard courtesy of a free-throw by junior Shannon Williams. Salisbury would answer with a free throw of their own to make the score 11-1 and end the opening quarter.
The Lady Panthers trying to gather a loose ball.
The Falcons increased their lead in the 2nd quarter to 18-1 before the Panthers found points again. It wasn’t until the 3:20 mark that Panther sophomore Katherine Naiburg hit a jumper for two points. Saucon Valley sophomore Olivia Williams then added a three-pointer at 2:39. Naiburg hit the final points of the half with under a minute to play making the score 18-7. Even though the Panther offense started to become a little more productive they still could not muster enough productivity to overcome the early deficit.
Panther sophomore Katherine Naiburg spots up beyond the arc.
Good defense by both teams dominated the 3rd quarter. It wasn’t until half way through the quarter that any points were scored by either team. Olivia Williams scored and cut the Falcon lead to single digits at 18-9. However, Salisbury closed out the final three minutes of the quarter with an 11-0 run to make the score 29-9.
The Panthers trying to box out and crash the boards.
Like the second quarter, the Panthers were more competitive in a scoreboard sense. The score for the quarter was 7-6 in favor of the Falcons. However, it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for the lack of offensive production the Panthers gifted the Falcons in the 1st and 3rd periods. The Lady Falcons swamped the Panthers 35-16.
Junior Sarah McGee had 11 points while senior Caylin Meinkrantz added 8 for the Falcons.
Sophomores Olivia Williams and Katherine Naiburg each had six points for the Panthers.
Up next for Saucon is an excellent opportunity Thursday night to get that first, elusive win. The Lady Panthers will host the Pen Argyl Green Knights, who are experiencing growing pains of their own. The Lady Knights are winless in their six Colonial League contests. It should be a very competitive game. Come Friday the Colonial League will have only one winless team remaining. Saucon Valley, for sure, does not want it to be them.
Good luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
Coach Calabrese continues to nurture and teach.
