Lady Panthers Can’t Keep Up With Monument Valley

The Pinnacle Lady Panthers lost at home Saturday afternoon 80-21 to Region 19 foe Monument Valley.
The loss to Monument Valley on Saturday puts the Lady Panthers at 0-4 in region play and 7-10 overall with four games left on the schedule.
Pinnacle Head Coach Mark Stuckenschneider said that his team mentally couldn’t overcome the early deficit they were in at the beginning of the game.
“Today was a head game for my girls, I think they were hard on themselves long before the game started. If they made one or two minor mistakes it was their downfall,” said Stuckenschneider.
The Lady Panthers entered the game with some injuries and players missing from their team which forced younger players to play more minutes.
Pinnacle started three freshmen, a sophomore and one senior with a number of underclassmen coming off the bench in reserve minutes.
After going down 40-7 at halftime, the Lady Panthers picked up their game in the second half, led by senior point guard Nikki Borba, who scored 8 points in the second half.
Freshman Angel Welch said after the game that the rotation of players for Pinnacle is what helped them improve against a very good Monument Valley.
“They didn’t have as many players as we did and they got tired. We got to drive a lot and our plays worked more,” said Welch.
Borba and sophomore Stephanie Sasser were Pinnacle’s leading scorers with 10 points each on Saturday.
Although his team lost by a large margin on Saturday, Stuckenschneider is optimistic about the future of his program and the young players getting playing time in the game against Monument Valley.
“In the long term this is going to help them, basketball is about time practicing and time on the court. There is no magic coach out there or no magic potion that’s going to make things perfect. It is all about time on the court,” said Stuckenschneider.
One of the key players for the future of the Lady Panthers is Welch, who Stuckenshneider has a lot of confidence in as a point guard this early in her career.
Welch said after the game she wants to do her best to help her team bounce back and get a win next week.
“I just want to work as hard as I can in practice and build my teammates up. I want to help work out our plays the best I can,” she said.
Welch and the Lady Panthers will hit the road this Wednesday to rival Green River and then return home on Friday for a battle against Monticello.
Tipoff for Friday’s game at home against Monticello is scheduled for 7 p.m.