Overtime proved to be a difficult place for the Lady Panthers of Yazoo County on Tuesday night when they were out by Amanda Elzy.
The Lady Panthers fell to Amanda Elzy is heart-breaking fashion with their 42-40 loss.
The loss dropped Yazoo County’s record to 10-7 (2-3 in district) on the year.
The worst part to Yazoo County head coach Patrick Nutter is that his team had their chances down the stretch to turn it into a win.
“This is one of those games where we had plenty of opportunities to win,” Nutter said. “We made a few mistakes down the stretch. For the most part, we played pretty solid. We just have to clean a few things up.”
Amanda Elzy took an early lead on their home court with a 10-7 first quarter.
But Yazoo County’s Lady Panthers stormed out in the second quarter and blitzed them defensively, holding them to only two points while scoring nine of their own to take a 16-12 lead into the half.
There was a renewed effort in Amanda Elzy at the start of the second half, and they outscored Yazoo County 15-10 to regain a 27-26 lead.
The fourth quarter was a battle in every facet of the game, each team desperately wanting a win, neither doing what it took to take it. By the time the buzzer sounded, the score was 36-36, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, the effort was high for both teams, but the execution wasn’t at its peak. Yazoo County came up just short in the end, as Amanda Elzy outscored them 6-4 in overtime to take it 42-40.
The game was not all negative for Yazoo County. One of the biggest positives for Nutter is that he saw the elder stateswomen of his team take control.
“Our older players really stepped up and played well,” Nutter said. “I’ve been waiting for the older girls to step up and take control of the team all year. They finally did that.”
Destiny Epps led Yazoo County in scoring with 12 points in the loss.
Jordan Scott and Ke’Anna Norwood were right behind Epps with eight points each.
Akeriunna Frierson was able to rack up six points, while Aquasia Edwards and Shamyia Douglas rounded things out with three points each.
While the loss did not cement Yazoo County’s status as a lower-seeded team, it certainly took away what little leeway they had left.
According to Nutter, their fate depends on how they perform moving forward, more so than what the competition presents.
“The loss knocked us back some,” Nutter said. “The rest of our district games are must-wins if we want second in the district. If we don’t beat ourselves, we can play with anyone we come up against.”
