Panther Payoff

Saturday morning, the Pioneer Lady Panthers and the Loogootee Lady Lions faced off for the second time in as many years in the Class 1A State Finals. Following Loogootee’s win a year ago, the Panthers were looking to exact a little revenge. The lead only changed a handful of times, the biggest lead of the game for either team was just eight points, but when it came down the stretch, it was extremely close, with Pioneer Sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="59732" first="Ashlynn" last="Brooke"]</strong> burying a jump-shot with just seven seconds remaining to give the Panthers a 43-42 victory over the Lions. The first quarter saw a lot of back-and-forth, with Pioneer leading at the media timeout, 9-7. During that early 4:40 stretch, there were six combined turnovers and a handful of fouls, as both teams tried to get rid of the nerves and find a rhythm. Pioneer saw four people score by that point, while Loogootee had three in the book, and each team had knocked down a 3-pointer. As the quarter continued, Loogootee Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="35070" first="Kalea" last="Fleming"]</strong> made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 9-9, but Pioneer Junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157179" first="Hailey" last="Cripe"]</strong> knocked down her second 3-pointer of the quarter, putting the Panthers up 12-9. Nearly a minute and a half went by, then Loogootee Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="130346" first="Brooklynn" last="Jones"]</strong> scored off of an offensive rebound with 51 seconds left, then Cripe immediately answered with yet another 3-pointer at the 45-second mark, giving Pioneer a 15-11 lead at the end of the first. Throughout the second quarter, offense was difficult to come by, but there was a lot of trading scores. Pioneer Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="130403" first="Olivia" last="Brooke"]</strong> began the action with a pair of free throws, making it 17-11. Over two minutes and a handful of turnovers later, Loogootee Senior <strong>Isabelle Waggner</strong> made two free throws of her own, cutting the lead back to four at 17-13. Nearly another minute and a half went by before Panther Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="245985" first="Madison" last="Blickenstaff"]</strong> made a layup to stretch the lead to 19-13 at the 3:53 mark. Loogootee would call a 30-second timeout at that point, which became a media timeout. When they returned, Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="245975" first="Makenzie" last="VanHoy"]</strong> buried a 3-pointer for the Lions, but Cripe had yet another answer from deep...her fourth 3-pointer of the game...and it was 22-16, in favor of Pioneer. More than two minutes escaped the clock once again, before Jones scored another layup for the Lions at the 1:02 mark, making it 22-18. That would be the halftime score, with the Panthers in front. Cripe’s four 3-pointers led all scorers with 12 points. VanHoy and Jones each had six for Loogootee. Behind six points from Junior <strong>Kylie VanHoy</strong> and a 3-pointer by Jones, Loogootee went on a 9-2 run to begin the second half, taking a 27-24 lead. Out of the media timeout, the Brooke sisters went on an 8-0 run of their own to reclaim a 32-27 lead for Pioneer. Olivia made a 3-pointer almost immediately after the break, then Ashlynn scored three points the old-fashioned way, and Olivia made a layup following a Lion turnover. The younger VanHoy scored again, giving her eight points in the quarter and cutting the lead to 32-29, but Pioneer finished the period with a 3-pointer by [player_tooltip player_id="59732" first="Ashlynn" last="Brooke"] and a rebound put-back by Blickenstaff with just five seconds left to give the Panthers their biggest lead of the game, 37-29. All-in-all, the Panthers finished the quarter on a 13-2 run. Kylie VanHoy continued her strong second half, scoring the first six points of the period, and slicing the Pioneer lead down to just 37-35. [player_tooltip player_id="130403" first="Olivia" last="Brooke"] made a pull-up jumper, to push the lead back to four at 39-35, but Jones combatted that with another 3-pointer, and the younger VanHoy scored once again. Suddenly, Loogootee had taken a 40-39 lead just before the final media timeout hit at the 3:25 mark. The rest of the game would see just six points scored. [player_tooltip player_id="59732" first="Ashlynn" last="Brooke"] made a basket following an offensive rebound at the 2:27 mark, and it was 41-40 Pioneer. Fleming made a pull-up jumper in the lane with 1:56 left, and Loogootee was back up, 42-41. Following a turnover by Pioneer with 1:42 left, they called a full timeout. Then, from the 1:07 mark down to 38 seconds left, the Panthers had to foul six times to put Loogootee in the bonus. The Lions missed the front end of the 1-and-1, grabbed the offensive rebound, and were fouled once again with 28 seconds left. Another front end of a 1-and-1 was missed, but this time Pioneer snagged the board. Following a pair of full timeouts by the Panthers, they had the ball, down one point, with 22 seconds left. Then with seven seconds left, [player_tooltip player_id="130403" first="Olivia" last="Brooke"] found [player_tooltip player_id="59732" first="Ashlynn" last="Brooke"] for the jumper, giving the Panthers the final lead of the game, 43-42. Loogootee immediately called timeout, had one more chance at going the length of the floor for a shot, but turned it over just before the clock expired. Game over. Despite very little offense at times during this contest, it was certainly nerve-racking down the stretch for all fans tuned into the game. The rematch lived up to its billing, and both teams saw multiple players step up throughout. Pioneer was led by the 13 points of [player_tooltip player_id="130403" first="Olivia" last="Brooke"]. She also grabbed eight rebounds and had a pair of assists. Cripe finished with the 12 points her four 3-pointers provided, plus she added six rebounds. [player_tooltip player_id="59732" first="Ashlynn" last="Brooke"] was their other double-figure scorer with 10 points in success. For Loogootee, Kylie VanHoy was a monster in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 18 points. Jones added 12 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in defeat. &nbsp; <strong>NOTES:</strong> Pioneer and Loogootee are no strangers to one another. The Panthers and Lions squared off in the 2020 Class 1A State Championship as well, with Loogootee taking the 45-43 victory. The two schools again faced off in the 2020 Volleyball State Finals, with Pioneer winning that title. Pioneer Seniors <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="245985" first="Madison" last="Blickenstaff"]</strong> and <strong>Mackenzie Walker</strong> have now won state titles in Softball (2018), Volleyball (2020), and Basketball (2021). Pioneer Senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="130403" first="Olivia" last="Brooke"]</strong> was honored with the prestigious Patricia L. Roy Mental Attitude Award following the game. &nbsp; <strong>43 - PIONEER (25-4):</strong> O. Brooke 13, Cripe 12, A. Brooke 10, Blickenstaff 8, Walker 0, Borges 0 <strong>42 - LOOGOOTEE (20-5):</strong> K. VanHoy 18, Jones 12, M. VanHoy 6, Fleming 4, Waggner 2, Walker 0, Nolley 0