Megan Olson of Fairbanks looks for an open pass while a Grandview Heights defender guards her Wednesday at Fairbanks High School. Olson added six points during the Lady Panthers’ 34-31 loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
For the Lady Panthers of Fairbanks, this basketball season has been nothing short of a struggle. With players out of the lineup for any number of reasons, head coach Brock Oakes has had to go deep into his bench.
The squad’s inexperience reared its head on Wednesday night as the Lady Bobcats of Grandview Heights slipped through the paws of the Panthers, 34-31.
“This year we have played a much slower pace,” said Oakes. “I feel like we don’t have all of our horses. We have all of these different adverse situations.
“We have weathered it and it is forcing us to play a little slower.”
That slow pace was felt early in the ball game as neither team came out of the gates swinging. The first points of the contest came after three minutes of play when Grandview’s Hannah Yochem found a jumper from 10 feet away.
Fairbanks answered with Megan Olson dropping in a layup, but the game continued to craw along.
After eight minutes of play, the Lady Panthers held a 7-6 edge.
The Bobcats really started to stretch their legs in the second quarter when the Panthers had trouble guarding the low post. Grandview took advantage of the situation and kept feeding the ball down low to extend its lead.
“The second quarter, they started to light it up,” said Oakes. “We got beat in transition quite a bit.
“Their number 12 (Tayler Pierce) posted up on the right block. We lost track of her and a couple of people on the baseline.”
The defensive lapse led to the Bobcats outscoring Fairbanks 18-5 during the quarter. As a result, the visitors held a 24-12 margin at halftime.
The Lady Panthers came out in the second half with lifted spirits and an idea of how to stop the pass to the low block.
The thinking seemed to pay off as the Panthers limited Grandview to just five points during the third quarter.
“Once we got that covered up (the low pass), that was kind of the difference in the ball game,” said Oakes.
Emily Wilson was the offensive weapon of choice for the Panthers as she scored four points from the field and added three more from the charity stripe.
Fairbanks was able to close the gap to 28-21 by the end of the period.
The final eight minutes of play saw the Lady Panthers’ score jump into double digits with 10 points. The offense came from all over the floor with shots falling in for Olson, Michaela Writesel and Zoe Walls.
The Panther defense was also able to keep the Lady Bobcats in check again, limiting them to only five points.
The scoreboard and clock, though, remained on the Bobcats’ side.
With time running out, Grandview put Wilson at the line. She sank both shots to make it a one-possession game.
Oakes ordered a full court press and the pressure forced Grandview into a bad pass.
Following a timeout, FHS remained possession with 1.7 seconds left on the clock.
Fairbanks put the ball into Wilson, but the Bobcats got a finger on the shot to end the game.
The loss dropped the Panthers; record to 2-6 on the season.
Grandview
Pierce 5-2-12, Yochem 4-1-10, Murphy 2-1-6, Hall 2-0-4, Coplan 1-0-2. Totals 14-4-34.
Three-point goals: Yochem 1, Murphy 1.
Fairbanks
Wilson 3-5-12, Writesel 4-1-9, Olson 3-0-6, Rowland 0-2-2, Walls 0-2-2. Totals 10-10-31.
Three-point goal: Wilson 1.