Late third quarter baskets by Cheyenne Miller and Annabelle Gardner put Pattonsburg up to stay over King City and the Panthers weathered a frantic finish at the end to come out on top 29-27 Friday. It was a shocking outcome for everyone but the Panthers; they had dropped a game in December to King City by double digits when they still had Katelyn Jones, but they turned around and beat the Wildkats without her. It showed the kind of improvement they have been showing since December.
King City was supposed to kill the Panthers on paper; they had fallen off a bit since last year, but they were still competing at a high level in tournaments. But, seemingly demoralized by a 26-25 loss to NEN in the Stanberry Tournament semifinals, they have won only two games since. Pattonsburg was supposed to be perfect fodder for them; after going through an impressive stretch in January, they were in the throes of a three game losing skid, including a 46-25 loss to Worth County the game before. The game was played at King City, where there was always a raucous crowd for enemy teams to contend with.
After initially struggling to find a way to get around the taller Clare Staley, Kinsley Johnson found ways to get around her and scored the first four points of the game. But despite Johnson going off in the first quarter for seven points, King City looked like they were taking control, getting five straight from England Garlock and five from Staley to move ahead 10-7 after one.
Johnson did all she could to keep the Panthers in the game, but King City looked to be putting them in their rearview mirror after Brylin Armfield tipped a ball to herself, fed Garlock, who fed Staley for a finish to make it 14-9. At that point, Jayden Goble had fed Kinsley Johnson for five assists, Johnson had all nine points, but nobody else had scored for Pattonsburg.
But then King City switched to a 2-3 zone as Staley had two fouls trying to guard Johnson, and the Wildkats didn't want her to pick up her third, and the Panthers came back. The problem with zone defenses is that players can get in the habit of guarding areas instead of players, and sure enough, Annabelle Gardner snuck in after an errant Pattonsburg shot and put it back in for the first points by someone else. Addie Iddings, who had missed a ton of shots during Pattonsburg's slump, suddenly broke out of it with a 3-pointer to tie it at 14.
King City rebuilt their lead when Armfield drove and scored and Staley got loose on the boards for a putback to make it 18-14. King City switched back to their man to man, only for Addie Iddings to hit another three anyway to make it 18-17. But they still looked in control after Staley countered with an and-one basket to make it 21-17 with 7:11 left in the third.
The game turned into a defensive standoff of almost four minutes until Jayden Goble's defender came off of her trying to steal the ball from Kinsley Johnson, and Johnson fed Goble for a layup to cut it to 21-19. Then, King City took too long in the huddle, for which they had already been warned, and drew a technical foul and Kinsley Johnson made one of two to make it 21-20 with 2:09 left.
Kinsley Johnson then blocked a shot on the other end and corralled the ball, only to turn it over as she was being surrounded by purple shirts. But the King City fans, apparently unhappy that Johnson was not called for a foul on the previous play, said stuff that the officials didn't care to hear and Referee Tyler Lupfer threw one out.
Johnson had "only" six blocks, but it was a product of King City's players not wanting to take her on in the paint. Pattonsburg got a stop and a costly sequence happened when one of King City's two main post players, Wylie McKinnon, hit her head on the floor trying to steal the ball from Kinsley Johnson and came out for the rest of the quarter. Without McKinnon, Pattonsburg got a key push that would put them up for good.
Jayden Goble inbounded the ball to Cheyenne Miller with 1:13 left; Miller finished through contact from the left wing with a King City player draped all over her to give Pattonsburg the lead in a play that caused even coach Lee Warford to celebrate. After another stop, Miller flung up a prayer that didn't go in, but Annabelle Gardner got a putback at the buzzer to put the Panthers up 24-21 after three.
It was a scenario similar to the Panther football team from last year; nobody thought they could do it and they went out and beat Albany twice anyway.
Things looked like they were going roses for the Panthers after Addie Iddings posted up and scored to make it 26-21 to start the fourth quarter. Pattonsburg was using an unorthodox defense with four players playing man to man and the fifth playing in the paint to guard King City's two bigs, leaving Anna Boone all alone. But the momentum changed when Boone suddenly started shooting and scored four straight, cutting it to 26-25 and forcing Pattonsburg out of it. A lot of fourth quarters have been an adventure for Pattonsburg this year.
Jayden Goble stopped the bleeding with a free throw, but then picked up her fourth foul trying to guard McKinnon, who had come back, and McKinnon's free throw cut it to 27-26. McKinnon got a steal again, but Brylin Armfield missed a 3-pointer. Addie Iddings picked up a moving screen, but Annabelle Gardner got a steal with 55 seconds left and Pattonsburg was in their delay game. They were able to run it down to 26.8 seconds before King City was able to pick up their fifth foul and put Pattonsburg on the line.
Kinsley Johnson hit both free throws to make it 29-26. King City missed a 3-pointer to tie it, missed a layup try, but then Goble fouled Clare Staley for her fifth fighting for a rebound, and Staley hit one of two to make it 29-27 with seven seconds left. King City tried to miss the second free throw intentionally but picked up a lane violation and Pattonsburg had to inbound the ball.
Brylin Armfield stole the ensuing inbounds pass, and King City called timeout right before she lost the ball and Kinsley Johnson would have stolen it back. The inbounds pass got away, but nobody touched it as Clare Staley tracked it down for a desperation heave from 35 feet, not realizing the clock had not started since the clock doesn't start until someone touches the ball inbounds. She missed off the backboard, but the ball caromed to England Garlock on the left wing. Garlock shot a desperation three, which would have counted and which would have won it, but she left it short of the rim as time expired.
Kinsley Johnson had 12, Addie Iddings 8, Annabelle Gardner 4, Jayden Goble 3, and Cheyenne Miller 2.
Kinsley Johnson had 6 blocks. Annabelle Gardner and Cheyenne Miller had 1.
Annabelle Gardner had 11 boards; despite their size disadvantage, Pattonsburg outrebounded King City 39-36. Kinsley Johnson had 9, Cheyenne Miller 7, and Addie Iddings and Jayden Goble 6.
Jayden Goble had 6 assists. Kinsley Johnson had 3 and Annabelle Gardner and Cheyenne Miller had 1.
Annabelle Gardner had 6 tips. Kinsley Johnson had 3, Addie Iddings and Jayden Goble had 2, and Cheyenne Miller 1.
Jayden Goble had 3 steals. Cheyenne Miller, Annabelle Gardner, and Addie Iddings had 2. Kinsley Johnson had 1.
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