Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  It looked like the Nederland Panthers might come up with their third win of the season last Tuesday night when they hosted the Front Range Christian Falcons, who came into the game with a 2-6 record.

After a series of hard ref calls in the fourth quarter, the Panthers went down 16-24.

Nederland played strongly, taking an early lead in the first quarter, 12-5. The Falcons entered the second quarter, readjusted their defense and managed to hold the Panthers at 12 while they gained three points but still lagged behind 12-8 at half time.

The Ned girls continued to play aggressively and contained the Falcons to the fourth quarter score of 14-11. Then the refs turned aggression into fouls and the Falcons gained steady free throw shots, putting them out front 14-15. Breegan McClish answered the score to take the lead 16-15. With about three minutes left in the game, the refs made another call on Karen Sorokach, the team’s high scorer and rebounder, and she was out.

The Falcons continued to sink their free throw shots and ended the game with a three-pointer. It was a tough loss, but the Panthers showed they have the grit to own the ball.

Quarter scores:

12-5 0-3 2-3 2-11

Individual Statistics:

Alex Sorokach: 2 points, 1 rebound

Linnea Thibedeau: 2 points, 1 rebound

Eileen: 2 points, 1 rebound

Karen Sorokach: 6 points, 7 rebounds

Breegan McClish: 4 points, 2 rebounds

(Originally published in the January 25, 2018 print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)