Lady Panthers Claim 3rd Place in Class A Division of MUDECAS Tourney!
by Lisa Dowding and Mike Sybrant
The Palmyra Lady Panthers earned the third seed in the Class A Division of the MUDECAS Tournament held on the week of January 11th-15th. The girls went 2-1 in the tournament and captured 3rd place. Palmyra defeated Sterling and Exeter-Milligan and lost to Diller-Odell. The Lady Panthers record is now 9 wins and 3 losses.
In the opening game, held on Monday, the 11th, Palmyra took on the 6th seeded Sterling Tigers. The Lady Panthers controlled most of the game and opened with a comfortable 53-47 win. Amanda Beckman was the leading scorer for the Lady Panthers with 15 points followed closely by Stacey Ockinga with 13 and Kerry Dawson with 12.
The second round game, on Thursday, the 14th, posed Palmyra against the second seed and 7th rated in the state Diller-Odell Griffins. Palmyra jumped off to an 8-0 start, but Diller-Odell responded and took the lead into half time 31-29. In the third quarter, both teams traded leads, but the Griffins still had a 41-40 lead going into the fourth. Palmyra caught fire in the fourth and held a 52-46 lead with two minutes left in the game. Diller-Odell came firing back and were able to capitalize off Palmyra mistakes to tie the game at 53 apiece. A late foul by the Lady Panthers with 3 seconds left in the game gave Diller-Odell a shot for freethrows. The Lady Griffins sank both free throws to seal the victory and moved into the championship game. Stacy Ockinga led Palmyra with 11 points followed by Holly Mach, Amanda Beckman, and Sam Masilko all with 10.
On Friday, January 15th, Palmyra played in the consolation game of MUDECAS where they faced 5th rated in the state Exeter-Milligan. Palmyra cruised in the first half going into the locker room with a 24-10 lead. In the second half, Palmyra had numerous mental mistakes and Exeter-Milligan climbed back in the game. The Lady Panthers did hang on for the 36-32 victory.
Palmyra faces another busy week this next week where they will be facing four opponents. On Monday, January 18th they will be going against Louisville at home. On Tuesday, the 19th, they will travel to take on Conestoga. On Friday, the 22nd they will travel to take on the 4th rated in the state East Butler. Then return home on the 23rd to face Yutan. Come on out and cheer on the Lady Panthers!
