BY NOAH GRIFFITH
FOR THE OBSERVER
Smiths Station –– A challenging slate of games highlighted an action-packed weekend for Smiths Station basketball, as the Panthers’ boys team split a pair of contests at the Spain Park Showcase while the girls dropped two games at the Reindeer Classic at Auburn High School. Here’s a recap of each team’s games.
Boys:
The Smiths Station boys split a pair of contests against stout 6A competition at Spain Park to move to 9-4 on the season. On Friday, Dec. 19, the Panthers held on to take down Wetumpka, 57-49. The following day, Smiths Station fell to a high-powered Spain Park offense, 54-39.
“I like where we are right now as a team. I think we have areas that we must improve on in order to take this program to the next level,” said head coach Armon Ingersoll. “This past weekend, I thought we matched up with two high-quality teams that I think have a chance to make a run in 6A.”
Ingersoll noted that the team navigated through challenging competition at Spain Park without the team’s leading scorer, junior point guard Jayden Peabody. Peabody had just dropped 25 points with six made 3-pointers in a winning effort against Hardaway last Saturday but was absent this weekend due to a death in his family.
However, junior center Jarquez Williams stepped up against a Wetumpka squad that possesses tremendous size, Ingersoll added. Williams turned in a double-double, finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Also tallying 15 points, senior shooting guard Robert Shoffler helped the Panthers close out the win over Wetumpka, which is now 10-6 on the season.
“Without [Peabody’s] presence, we needed those guys to step up and finish the game against Wetumpka,” Ingersoll said.
On Saturday, the Panthers didn’t close well and let Spain Park (13-4) run away with a 15-point victory.
Despite only trailing by five at halftime, Spain Park came out hot after the break and shot the lights out. Spain Park was quick to the basket and fired from deep with no hesitation, leaving the Smiths Station defense guessing too often.
The Panthers struggled to answer Spain Park’s 10 made 3-pointers in the second half as the deficit grew from five to 15. Shoffler put up 15 points again, but the next top scorer was junior Jamal Carnes with nine.
“I thought we were lacking scoring to keep up in the second half,” Ingersoll said. “We must continue to learn and play defense well and continue to get better at knowing our opponent.”
After Christmas, the Panthers return to action from Dec. 29-31 at Bay High School in Panama City, Florida. Smiths Station will return home on Jan. 3 to take on Northside.
Coming off of an 11-13 finish last season, Ingersoll sees a lot of potential out of his team as they aim for a winning record this time around.
“What excites me the most about this team is that we play unselfish basketball,” Ingersoll said. “To me, that’s a good sign of a successful team.”
Girls:
Head coach Dewayne Welch and the Smiths Station girls continued a tough start to their season, dropping a pair of games in a tournament at Auburn High to Benjamin Russell (54-43) and Carroll Ozark (60-53).
Despite fighting back to tie the game at 21 on Saturday against Carroll Ozark, Makynzye Bonner hit the first of her three 3-pointers in the game to reclaim the lead for the Eagles going to halftime. The Panthers kept it close throughout the third quarter, and even trailed just 45-43 in the opening minute of the fourth, but Zymirra Glanton and Carroll Ozark turned up their energy and widened the lead late.
Carroll Ozark recorded 20 steals as a team, and Glanton’s 18 points, five assists and four steals were too much for Smiths Station. Despite 20 points and four steals from junior guard Erica Robinson, the Panthers had more trouble turning their opportunities into baskets, as the majority of their points came at the free-throw line. Freshman Ava Deloach was the only other scorer in double figures for Smiths Station with 12 points.
Falling out of games down the stretch has been a problem for a competitive Smiths Station team all season long. The Panthers are now 2-10 and have lost their last five contests. Both of their wins this season have come against winless, 3A Dadeville.
Smiths Station will regroup after the new year as it will face Jordan in the Muscogee County Classic on Jan. 2 before returning home the next day to meet Northside out of Columbus, Georgia.
