BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
FOR THE OBSERVER
LANETT — After a regular season that was completely different for both teams, a healthy No. 1 seed Lanett High School hosted injury-riddled No. 4 seed Loachapoka High School for a playoff spot.
Those injuries — and lack of — were evident on the court as the Lady Panthers forced more than 40 turnovers to coast to a 48-20 victory over the Lady Indians on Feb. 5 in the first round of the girls’ 2A Area 6 tournament.
Following an extended break after their final regular season game, Lanett girls’ head basketball coach Charlie Williams knew his team would likely struggle to find their rhythm early in the game.
By high school basketball standards, the Lady Panthers’ nearly flawless defense did more than enough to pick up the slack until the basketball really started swishing through the net.
“We started off real slow,” Williams said. “We hadn’t played since last Friday, so I knew there was going to be some rust. I hoped it was going to be more rest than rust, but I knew the first half was going to be slow. We’ve got to do the small things right on offense. You’ve got to take care of the basketball and make your layups and free throws. That was the big difference with tonight’s game.”
On a night where the Lady Panthers’ stars shined bright, none was brighter than senior guard Nakeriona Heard, whose triple double and ability on the fast break powered Lanett’s smothering second half performance.
“I just go off my teammates and just try to keep the energy high and just keep my game flowing based off of them,” Heard said. “I’ve just got to get as much rest as I can tonight, and then, when we come to practice tomorrow, work as hard as I can.”
While the loss was disappointing for Loachapoka girls’ head basketball coach Sabrina Milligan, she was still proud of the fight her players showed down the stretch after star guard and primary ball handler Sanaa Drummond tore her ACL on Dec. 18.
Milligan, who is retiring after the school year ends, also reflected on her 27-year career as a basketball coach and the most important aspect of coaching: mentoring her players.
“Somebody’s got to win and somebody’s got to lose in this sport, and it just happened to be us tonight,” Milligan said. “But I’m extremely proud of the girls. I’m thankful for being able to finish my career here, it’s been a blessing. I’m so grateful to the young ladies. I’ve had a chance to work with some wonderful kids, and that’s the most important thing to me anyway.”
The rust from a long layover was in full display early in the first quarter as a slew of turnovers and fouls resulted in just seven total points.
However, Lanett managed to extend their 5-2 lead in the second quarter with a 12-3 run after Loachapoka had few answers for the Lady Panther’s offensive rebounding ability and three-point shooting.
Following halftime, Lanett extended their dominance into the third quarter by forcing the ball into the paint and focusing on taking high-percentage shots.
Despite being down 32-10 entering the fourth quarter, the Lady Indians showed fight by scoring as many points in the final frame as they did in the previous three quarters.
Serenity Roberts led all players with 18 points for the Lady Panthers while Heard contributed 12 points. Destiney Core and Vennecia Cobb both scored five points for the Lady Indians.
Lanett outlasts Loachapoka in wild overtime classic
Boys
Having split their regular season series, the third game between Lanett High School and Loachapoka High School was a definitive winner-take-all with a shot at the playoffs on the line.
In perhaps the best local 2A girls or boys postseason game yet this year, the Panthers (10-12, 3-3) engineered a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback and made all six overtime free throw attempts to defeat the Indians (13-12, 3-3) 64-60 on Jan. 6 in the 2A Area 6 tournament.
With a senior-heavy rotation on the court, Lanett boys’ head basketball coach Trentavious McCants spoke at length about his team’s ability to overcome adversity and keep a laser-like focus on the task at hand.
“First off, hats off to Coach Smith and Loachapoka, them boys fought hard, man. Especially with them missing two of their players, but they did a good job,” McCants said. “It feels great. My guys, we lost the first three quarters, then they dug in in the fourth quarter, and then in overtime they just went out and took it, they weren’t taking a loss from anyone.”
Do-all senior guard Fred Broughton showcased his deep toolbox throughout the game, hitting four three-pointers and scoring in almost every possible way for the Panthers. While he was critical of the energy Lanett came out with in the third quarter, he was happy with the final result and previewed the area championship game against foes LaFayette High School.
“We showed effort. Third quarter we came out a little flat, but fourth quarter we came out with a little bit of energy because we’re all seniors, and we didn’t want to go home,” Broughton said. “[We’re] looking forward to a win, to play with energy and not come out flat in the third quarter.”
Even after heart-wrenching loss, Loachapoka boys’ head basketball coach Sheroderick Smith praised the fight his team, specifically Adolph Dunn Jr. and Maurice Payne, showed after losing two of the team’s best players to injury earlier in the year.
“I’ve got to give it to my team, we lost Mitchell Chenier and Jordan Tyner to season-ending injuries. Last time we played Lanett, they beat us by 46 points and we had 37 turnovers,” Smith said. “To lose to them in overtime tonight, my guys responded well. There are always some plays where we could have done better, but that’s just basketball. I really have to hold my head up and see what I could have done better in these games. It’s just sad to say that, but we played our butts off tonight.”
At times, the first quarter resembled a track meet more than a basketball game, with the Panthers and Indians quickly pushing the ball up the court. While the run of play was evenly matched, Lanett’s ability to finish at the rim made the difference and led to a 16-12 Panthers lead.
The focus then shifted outward in the second quarter as players took more three-point shots in response to both teams’ interior defenses collapsing in on the paint. That caused the lead to change hands multiple times until Lanett grabbed a 28-27 halftime lead.
Momentum then fully swung in Loachapoka’s favor in the third quarter’s opening minutes as an intense full-court press opened a gap and back-to-back and-one plays with under a minute left gave the Indians a 42-35 going into the fourth quarter.
Lanett then erased most of the deficit in the opening two minutes by drawing fouls and making most of their free throws. That led to a very tense atmosphere as the game was tied at 53 entering the final 30 seconds, where Loachapoka missed a last-second shot that would have secure the win.
Having been given a second chance, the Panthers opened up a slight lead in overtime and played a near-perfect game of keep-away in the game’s final minute after Broughton almost singlehandedly secured the lead. Eddie Mitchell then sealed the victory by making all four of his free throw attempts in the final minute.
Broughton led all scorers with 25 points for the Panthers, and Jeramiah McGilberry added 10 points. Dunn finished as the Indians’ leading point-getter with 20 points, while Montrevious Poole and Jamauri Todd contributed 13 and 12 points, respectively.
