<\/p>\n
Montezuma-Cortez Lady Panthers head coach John McHenry was happy with his team\u2019s position heading into halftime on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
The Panthers (5-4) jumped out to an early first quarter lead and hung around with the (CHSAANow) No. 4 ranked Centauri Falcons (9-1) to trail by five at the break, 29-24.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were in it,\u201d McHenry said. \u201cFirst quarter we came out and jumped out on them. We were up at one time and hadn\u2019t really gotten into a rhythm of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Panthers struggled to score in the second half and the Falcons took advantage of M-CHS turnovers and second-chance opportunities to run away with a 50-29 win.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if we just froze coming into halftime just down five,\u201d McHenry said. \u201cWe froze and scored five points in the second half.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tayla Topaha got the Panthers out to a quick start with five first-quarter points and Kiselya Plewe directed the offense from the point guard position.<\/p>\n
Plewe dribbled through the Centauri press and beat defenders to get into the lane for layups or dish-offs to teammates.<\/p>\n
McHenry felt that Plewe\u2019s success stemmed from Centauri\u2019s 6-foot-2 sophomore Ember Canty\u2019s hesitance to challenge Plewe\u2019s shots.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Canty] wouldn\u2019t come against her because she didn\u2019t want to pick up fouls,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo she was allowing Kiselya to kind of roll the dice and go ahead and shoot the layups and see if she misses or makes it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Centauri threw a different look at Plewe in the second half, and by slowing her, the Panthers\u2019 offense stalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they came out in the second half they went box-and-one on her,\u201d McHenry said. \u201cThey denied her the ball. They weren\u2019t going to give her any more layups.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Panthers mustered just four points in the third quarter and one in the fourth, and Centauri capitalized on M-CHS\u2019 16 second-half turnovers to outscore them 21-5 in the final two quarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo many turnovers,\u201d McHenry said. \u201cWe talk about two, two and two. Two eyes, two feet, two hands. Every pass has to be that way and receiving every pass has to be that way. And we just started sitting back on our heels and throwing passes from the hip, and that\u2019s what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plewe and Topaha led the Panthers with seven points each, Kelcie Ralstin added five, Yanibah Bayles scored four and Gabby Wolf chipped in three.<\/p>\n
The loss is the Panthers\u2019 third consecutive, but they\u2019ll look to right the ship in another tough Intermountain League game against Alamosa (2-6) on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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