T. Lindsay lifts Lady Panthers to win

Tawni Lindsay hit a three pointer with 20 seconds left and Haylee Graham hit a free throw with five seconds left to lift the Pauls Valley Lady Panthers to a 52-51 win over rival Lindsay Monday night in at the Pauls Valley Gymnasium.

Lindsay’s Tess Robbins had a chance to tie the game with no time on the clock after she was fouled as the horn sounded. Robbins hit the first free throw to cut the lead to one but the second bounced off the back of the rim and the Lady Panthers held on for the win.

The Lady Panthers trailed by as many as 10 in the second half including at the start of the fourth quarter before rallying behind T. Lindsay’s seven points. The Leopardettes also helped out the Lady Panthers by hitting only 4 of 13 free throws in the fourth quarter including a 1 of 8 showing in the final two minutes.

The game was back-and-forth throughout the first half. Lindsay would open up a lead with a run and Pauls Valley would respond with one of their own to make the game tight again. The Leopardettes had leads of six on two different occasions in the first half but the game was all knotted up at 28 heading into the half.

Janeth Nunez kept Pauls Valley in the game in the third quarter with a pair of three pointers. Lindsay was able to put together a 13-3 run over the final four minutes of the quarter to open up a 45-35 lead.

Pauls Valley started chipping away at the lead as Jade Sharp hit a traditional three point play. A three pointer by Cherykee Humphrey and then four straight free throws by T. Lindsay and Humphrey cut the lead to two with just under two minutes remaining.

The Leopardettes would miss six straight free throws before a basket by T. Lindsay tied the game with a minute to go. Taylor Wilson responded for the Leopardettes with a basket that gave them the lead with 35 seconds remaining.

T. Lindsay spotted up on the other end nailing a three pointer that gave the Lady Panthers the lead for good. Graham’s free throw gave PV a two-point lead with five seconds remaining.

Robbins got the rebound, drove the length of the floor and was fouled as she went up for a lay-up. Robbins sank the first shot but couldn’t get the second to fall as the Leopardettes fell to the Lady Panthers by a point.

Those two teams will probably meet up Friday night in the Canadian Valley Conference Shoot-Out in Purcell.