IRONTON – The Minford Lady Falcons lost to the Chesapeake Panthers at the Tackett’s Body Shop Tournament in Ironton Saturday afternoon by a score of 58-42. Minford will get a shot at redemption, however, as they face each other again in exactly one week in the first round of the Division III sectional tournament.
For the Falcons both usual starters Abby Grasso and Emma Shepard sat out of the game with minor injuries. Regardless, the Falcons still managed to play well in the first half taking a one point lead at 25-24 into the break.
The third quarter would belong to Chesapeake, as the Panthers came out of the break on fire. They also limited Minford offensively, outscoring the Falcons 23-5 in the quarter. The Panthers looked to penetrate all night, getting to the line and leaving Minford in foul trouble.
Minford tried to battle back in the fourth quarter but couldn’t overcome the 17 point deficit they left themselves in after the third. Ashley Blankenship was a bright spot for Minford, as she contributed three blocks, numerous rebounds, and changed the game inside the paint, especially early for the Falcons. Erin Daniels would lead all scorers with 22 and win the most outstanding player award for Minford. Kaylee Curry would win most outstanding player for Chesapeake with a team high 18 points.
Coach Scott Caudill isn’t reading too much into the loss. With two important starters out, Caudill feels as though his team got a good read of their tournament opponents on the afternoon.
“We did have two starters out,” said Caudill. “Emma Shepard being out really hurt us. She’s our point guard, she sets us up and does a great job. Abby Grasso really communicates and talks the girls up, too. We had a chance to win today without them, though. We just didn’t have the right mentality. We shot 28% from the field. We outrebounded them but we couldn’t sink our shots.”
“A good thing that came out of it, is that Ashley Blankenship really adds something to our game. I just couldn’t put her in the fourth because we were trying to speed up the tempo to try to get back in the game. But she definitely adds a good presence for us inside.”
“The third quarter cost us the game. It was terrible for us. We talked about the third dictating the rest of the game at halftime. It did, just not in our favor. Abby and Emma will be back for the tournament game. We saw some things today we can work on, but overall we were just lethargic. Win or lose it didn’t mean anything, we already have our seeding and we came in not wanting to show a whole lot of what we do. The good thing that came out of it is now we know Chesapeake’s strengths, we will prepare for it and be ready for Saturday.”
Minford is pitted against Chesapeake once again Saturday at Rock Hill High School. Game time is 2:45 P.M.
Box Score 1 2 3 4 F
Minford 14 11 5 12 42
Chesapeake 14 10 23 11 58
Individual Stats
Minford: Daniels 22, Risner 8, Blankenship 4, Pica 4, Hammond 2, Puckett 2
Chesapeake: Curry 18, Murphy 11, Hall 7, Davis 6, Mills 5, Huff 4, Jones 4, Webb 3
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