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Sheldon girls win at home
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
SHELDON -- It's been more than a full calendar year since the last time the Sheldon Lady Panthers basketball team has tasted victory on its home floor. The last time the Lady Panthers came out on top in a game at Sheldon High School was Homecoming Night on Jan. 4, 2013, when they beat the Lady Bulldogs of Ballard High School by a final score of 41-19.
Since then, the Lady Panthers have been on a seemingly endless streak of futility. That all came to an end Thursday night, however, when head coach Jason Irwin's Lady Panthers put on a similarly dominant performance in a 41-23 victory over Miami.
"It feels good," Irwin said after Thursday's win. "It's been a long time since Sheldon's girls won at home."
Much like their last home victory, the Lady Panthers took control of the pace of Thursday's contest early and never let up. Though the score was close at the end of each of the first three quarters, it was clear from the start who was in control.
Despite having just eight players to Miami's 10, the Lady Panthers never really had any trouble dictating the pace of the contest. As she has done many times throughout her career, Destiny Shelton was the one who gave the Lady Panthers the majority of their spark on the night, providing strong leadership on both ends of the of the floor.
That leadership showed in her statistics, as she led all scorers with 10 first-half points, despite some tough pressure defense from the opposition. By the time all was said and done, Shelton finished the night as the runaway leader on the offensive end of the floor for Sheldon, as she finished the night with 14 points.
"I was kind of wondering why he was pressing me at the end," Irwin said of Lady Eagles head coach Keith Smith and his defense.
Shelton certainly wasn't the only one who made a significant contribution to the cause for the Lady Panthers, however. Seven of the eight players on Irwin's roster made it into the scoring column on the night, giving the Lady Panthers a very balanced offensive attack behind Shelton.
Kylie Leavell was second on the team behind Shelton with seven points, followed by Lindsey Turner with six and Logan Lamb with five. Amy Brzuchowski finished with four, and Dani Hibbits and Kylie Seaton added three apiece.
Though Lamb didn't have as productive an offensive night as she has had on other occasions this season, she was arguably the most aggressive defender the Lady Panthers had on the floor in the contest. Not only could she be found challenging nearly every shot Miami took in the paint, but was a factor in a number of rebounding situations, as well.
That aggressive defense paid off for Lamb on a number of occasions, but it didn't come without its issues. With 1 minute, 49 seconds left in the contest, those issues caught up, as Lamb committed her fifth foul, forcing her to make an early exit.
That didn't matter, however, as the Lady Panthers already had things well in hand.
Though the Lady Panthers finished the night with one of their highest scoring efforts in recent memory, neither team really had a very good night from the field. The Lady Panthers finished the night 11-for-39 from the field, overall, while Miami was just 9-for-53.
Of those 39 field-goal attempts for Sheldon, 12 came from beyond the 3-point line. It was a better night from there for the Lady Panthers as they made four of their 12 shots.
The Lady Eagles, however, couldn't have been colder from beyond the arc as they took four attempts -- all in the first half -- and missed them all.
Things weren't much better from the free-throw line for either side as the Lady Panthers made just 15 of 34 charity tosses. Miami was far behind in that category, as well, converting on just five of its 19 attempts at the stripe.
The rebounding battle was much closer and was a substantial part of the reason the contest turned out to be as close as it was. Among their 44 total rebounds in the contest, Miami pulled in a staggering 21 on the offensive end of the floor.
By contrast, the Lady Panthers did pull down 47 rebounds -- three more than the opposition -- but only had 14 on the offensive end.
The turnover margin was just as even in the contest, as the Lady Eagles committed 17 to Sheldon's 14. The Lady Panthers got the better of that battle in the second half, however, as nine of Miami's 17 giveaways came in the contest's final 16 minutes.
Crystal Routen led the offensive effort for the Lady Eagles, as she finished the night with 10 points.
Next on the schedule for the Lady Panthers is Friday, when they finish out what has turned out to be their busiest week of the season, hosting the Lady Hornets of Hume High School. Tipoff in the first of three games on the scheduled that night is set for 5:30 p.m., at Sheldon High School.