The Lakeside Panthers girls basketball team came out clicking on all cylinders on Tuesday against the Westside Patriots with a dominant season-opening performance, winning 72-7.
Things got going quick in the first quarter for the Panthers as they controlled the pace starting the game off with a 23-4 run, thanks to junior Kobi Barnes’ 14 first quarter points that contributed to a game-high of 25.
The Panthers stayed on the pedal throughout the second quarter taking advantage of their strong defense that led to easy transition points. Freshman Naomi Bailey made her presence known in the second with seven straight points in less than two minutes.
“It was great to get some young girls in there giving them some experience,” said Lakeside coach Matt Scott.
Scott got great production from his younger players all night, including 16 from Bailey and some quality minutes from fellow freshman Milani Marshall who just turned 14 years old.
Sophomores Emma Hughes and Cami Williams also flashed some promising moments as well.
The Lady Panthers swarmed the ball on defense all night, especially the front court with their returning guards in junior Elise Graybill who had 11 points and senior Kyrhstan Sullivan. Their efforts led to them surrendering only three points in the final three quarters, including a shutout in the third quarter.
Barnes used her 6-foot-3 frame to contribute on the defensive side with six blocked shots. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.
Lakeside didn’t slow down at all in the second half offensively going on a 34-0 run that went on from the 3:20 mark of the second quarter until the 5:44 mark in the fourth quarter. This included six players accounting for a basket in the third quarter alone. Throughout the whole game, all eight of Lakeside’s players were part of the scoring.
In addition to Barnes and Bailey’s performances, Graybill chipped in 13 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and six steals while senior Kyrhstan Sullivan had eight points, nine assists and eight steals.
“I am not going to tell those girls who get after it at practice all week to back off,” Scott said. “They work hard and stayed two hours after practice getting their shots up yesterday.”
This win came after a Nov. 8 victory against a rebuilding Cross Creek squad with new head coach Tracey Flowers who has taken the reins of the program from long-time coach Kim Schlein.
Lakeside will be back at Westside this weekend with two big games in the Ricky Moore Invitational. The Panthers will face First Baptist School from Charleston, S.C. on Friday, Nov. 15 at 4:30 p.m. and then Carver-Atlanta on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
These two games will be a great test for Coach Matt Brown and his Panthers before they get ready for some local competition against teams such as Grovetown, two games with Thomson, Burke County and then a mid-December clash with Class AA 2023-24 state runner up Josey.
