ALBANY —
On Monday night the Americus-Sumter Panthers traveled to Albany to take on Worth County in the opening round of the 2012-13 Region 1-AAAA Basketball Tournament. In a back-and-fourth contest with the Rams, Americus-Sumter would miss a shot at the buzzer to come up three points short and end their season. The Lady Panthers would follow with a huge win, however, the following night as they took down Westover 60-38 to keep their region and state title hopes alive.
The loss on Monday night ended an up and down year for the Panthers who finished 2012-13 season 7-17. The Panthers had several huge wins this year including a three point victory over AAAAA power Warner Robins on January 5, and a huge win over Region 1-AAAA rival Dougherty County in Albany on January 15. Americus-Sumter split two regular season contests with the Rams, but in the opening round of the region tournament Worth County used an excellent defensive effort to hold off the Panthers and keep their region title hopes alive for at least one more round.
The Region 1-AAAA Tournament has not been all bad news for Americus-Sumter, however, as the Lady Panthers took down Westover in the opening round to move on to the semifinal round against top-seeded Monroe tonight. The win also qualified the Lady Panthers for the GHSA Class AAAA State Basketball Tournament, giving the Americus-Sumter a chance to compete for not only a Region 1-AAAA Title, but also a AAAA State Title.
The Lady Panthers match-up against Westover marked the third time this season that the two region rivals squared off on the court. In their third game of the season the Lady Panthers defeated Westover 43-39, and they followed that win with a very similar 41-38 victory on January 25 in Sylvester. This time, Americus-Sumter made sure the game was not close by racing out to a 19-8 lead in the first period and extending that lead to 26-18 as the teams entered the halftime break.
Americus-Sumter lost a point to Westover in the third period but put an exclamation point on the victory in the fourth period by outscoring the Lady Patriots 22-7 to close out a massive 60-38 region tournament victory.
Several Lady Panthers saved their best games of the season for the most important one on Monday night, including senior forward A’Dasjah Mercer who had a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Two other seniors, Kahler Fletcher and Kayla Bowens finished the night in double-digits with 15 and 18 points, respectively. Senior center Tanyetta Hill also had a big night under the boards pulling down nine crucial rebounds for the Lady Panthers.
Americus-Sumter head coach Evelyn Wright was very proud of the way her team showed up both physically and mentally in the pivotal match-up. “We had a very good game. We were focused on what our mission was and we completed it,” Wright said.
Tonight the Lady Panthers will take on the number one seeded Monroe Lady Tornados for an opportunity to play in the Region 1-AAAA Championship game. Monroe has won both meetings this season, but in the region tournament anything is possible. The Lady Panthers will not back down from this challenge that begins at 7 p.m. tonight at Monroe High School in Albany.
Local Sports
Lady Panthers hammer Westover in region tournament, boys fall to Worth to end season
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Collins’ state title leads Schley Co. to 12th place finish at state meet
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Lady Panther basketball standout Kahler Fletcher signs with Emmanuel College
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Lady Eagles dominate final track meet to claim Class A state championship
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Eagles claim state tennis title behind singles sweep
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Sumter County Gymnastics Academy excels in state championship meets
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Americus-Sumter gymnastics team wins 2013 Gym Nest meet
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Relay team propels Wildcats to 9th place finish at state meet
The Schley County boy’s track team knew that the competition would be tough at the GHSA Class A State Meet last week, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from claiming a ninth place finish in the 29 team season finale.
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