Pattonsburg’s girls played their best game of the year since Katelyn Jones went down (knee) and beat North Harrison 47-38 Tuesday in the first round of the Gilman City Tournament. Although the rest of the tournament did not go the way they wanted, with them dropping games to Gilman City and Tri-County, they have established themselves as a team that other teams hate facing. The Panthers have come a long ways from December, when other teams circled it as a win on their calendar.
Emerging as a force since those days has been Kinsley Johnson, who has become one of the top shot blockers in the area, routinely rejecting 7-10 shots a night. She had a career night against North Harrison, getting 21 points, 13 boards, and 6 blocks. Every game for the Panthers is all-out war, with Johnson and the rest of the Panthers outworking their opposition.
The Shamrocks jumped on Pattonsburg early, racing out to a 13-3 lead as Jaxcynn Hansel had 6, Hali Smith 5, and Ava Rinehart 2. It was some of the best shooting the Shamrocks have had all year. But then the Panthers put on a burst of scoring that had been unthinkable a few weeks before. Kinsley Johnson hit a 3-pointer; then, Jayden Goble got a steal and added a 3-pointer. Annabelle Gardner drive and scored, Johnson hit a free throw, and Addie Iddings hit a 3-pointer. By the time the dust had settled, it was the Panthers who were in front 17-15 after one.
North Harrison fought back to take the lead as Hansel hit a free throw and then recovered from a monster stuff from Johnson as Hali Smith grabbed a board and drove and scored to make it 18-17 in the Shamrocks’ favor. But then Johnson drew a foul after putting up one of her patented left hand hook shots and hit both free throws. Johnson sent one deep to Cheyenne Miller, who drew a foul and hit a free throw. Johnson scored from inside and then Annabelle Gardner, making the kind of play that Anna Gladstone of Worth County was known for, got a steal to make it 24-18.
Hansel hit a free throw, but Kinsley Johnson scored from inside and Addie Iddings hit a guarded three to make it 29-19 before Ava Rinehart broke the run to make it 29-21 at the half.
Rinehart got the hot hand for North Harrison in the third quarter as they made a push to get back in it, cutting it to 34-31 on Rinehart’s second 3-pointer of the quarter. But after Addie Iddings took a charge on Rinehart, the momentum swung back in Pattonsburg’s favor, with Johnson hitting a free throw and Iddings hitting a 3-pointer before Stella Rinehart cut it to 38-32 after three.
Jaxcynn Hansel cut it to 38-33 to start the fourth, but then foul trouble started to take its toll and Pattonsburg pushed it up to double digits. Kinsley Johnson’s three-point play made it 44-33 with 3:24 left and Cheyenne Miller drove the left baseline for a score and Johnson added a free throw to make it 47-35.
Ava Rinehart had 13 points and 10 boards for the Shamrocks. Hansel had 10.
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