Comanche falls in openers

AMBER - The Comanche Lady Indians and Indians opened their season on the road at Amber-Pocasset last Friday night. 

Both teams came home with losses, but each had bright spots playing against teams who had already had a couple of games under their belt.

Am-Po outscored Comanche 11-2 in the final two minutes of the opening quarter to break a 4-4 tie and steadily pull away over the next two quarters to get the win on their homecoming night.

Both teams struggled with scoring in the early going, combining for just four buckets in the first six minutes before the Lady Panthers’ pressure defense took over and the shots they were missing earlier in the game began to fall.

Am-Po then opened the second on a 10-0 run to push the lead to 25-6 in the pivotal second quarter. The Lady Panthers would go on to outscore the Lady Indians 15-5 in the quarter. Comanche’s Cassidy Smith drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a 30-11 halftime score.

The Lady Panthers kept up the pressure in the third quarter, extending their lead to 26 points to take a comfortable 42-16 lead into the final frame. Senior Jentry Whaley hit a three-pointer in the third quarter.

Comanche kept plugging away, however, and opened the final quarter on a 7-0 run with four different players scoring.

Freshman Raelee Ellis led Comanche in her high school debut, scoring eight points. Smith had seven points, followed by Whaley with six, while Jillian Hushbeck, Maicee Combs and Cianna O’Connor had two points each.

Am-Po was led by Ainsley McCombs and Blakely Miller with 10 points each.

Comanche led most of the first three quarters until Am-Po opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run to take the lead for good. Comanche got within a point with 1:58 to go in the game, but the Panthers scored the final three points of the game to get the win.

Like the girls’ game before it, both boys’ teams had a lot of movement and action, but very little scoring. The first points didn’t come until Cooper Epperson scored at the 4:24 mark in the opening quarter. The Indians would take a 4-3 lead into the second quarter.

After a lead change and a tie to open the second, the Indians closed out the final 3:21 of the half on a 7-2 run with Brycen Lassley banking in a three-pointer with two seconds to go to give Comanche a 14-9 advantage.

Am-Po got close in the third quarter, but the Indians got a basket when they needed it. Colby Shannon’s three-pointer at 7:23 to go gave Comanche its biggest lead of the night at six points (17-11). Another Shannon three-pointer in the final minute kept the Indians ahead as they took a 25-22 lead into the final quarter.

The Panthers found some momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points while holding Comanche scoreless until near the halfway point. A three-pointer by Jiovanni Demry with 1:58 to go pulled the Indians to 33-32, but they would not score again.

Demry finished the game with 12 points to lead the Indians, followed closely behind by Shannon with 11. Lassley finished with five points and Epperson finished with two. 

Avery McComas led Am-Po with eight points. Eight different players scored for the Panthers.