Lady Panthers lose to ALA in Non-Region Matchup

The Pinnacle Lady Panthers lost to the American Leadership Academy Eagles 45-31 on Tuesday night in a non-region game.
Coming off last Friday night’s disappointing loss at home to rival Green River, Pinnacle began Tuesday’s game against ALA with a rough start.
Four minutes into the game the Lady Panthers struggled to get a basket and were down 4-1.
A Nikki Borba made basket with less than three minutes to play sparked a 10-2 run by Pinnacle to end the first quarter.
During that first quarter run, Pinnacle freshman Destinee Andrews and junor Zoey Kocks each made a three to keep the momentum going.
“We looked for the right passing and our shots were falling,” said Pinnacle forward Stephanie Sasser.
In the second quarter, another three-point shot made by Andrews helped the Lady Panthers keep a 19-15 lead going into halftime.
“We had a really good first half. Our play execution was good, our passes were good and our court vision was really good,” said Lady Panther’s Head Coach Mark Stuckenschneider.
The second half for the Lady Panthers was a different story than the first half.
ALA opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run and went on to outscore the Lady Panthers 16-2. Jessica Henstra and Megan Edwards each had six points for the Eagles in the third quarter.
Stuckenschneider said after the game that ALA made the defensive adjustments to keep the Lady Panthers away from the basket.
“They came out with the adjustment and they did a full-court press on us. We had a play to break the press but we couldn’t execute it,” said Stuckenschneider.
Being down ten at the end of the third quarter didn’t stop the Lady Panthers from putting up a fight in the fourth quarter.
They were able to claw back into the game and cut the ALA lead to three with 5:22 left to play.
“I was really proud of them for not hanging their heads and just walking away. They fought the entire time,” said Stuckenschneider.
However, the ALA defense stepped up again in the fourth quarter and shut down Pinnacle to only allow the Panthers to score two points in the final five minutes.
Borba finished the game as the Lady Panther’s leading scorer with 8 points.
The loss on Tuesday makes it three losses in a row for the Lady Panthers.
This Friday, Pinnacle travels to Whitehorse for a Region 19 showdown where they look to get their first region win of the season.
Pinnacle returns to Price to host Monument Valley on January 20 at 12:30 p.m.