The French Camp Academy boys and girls split basketball games against Nanih Waiya and Kosciusko, with victories against Nanih Waiya and losses to Kosciusko.
The Panthers defeated Nanih Waiya 53-41, but lost to Kosciusko 59-27.
French Camp jumped out to a 16-4 lead against Nanih Waiya after one quarter and led the rest of the way. “We kind of overmatched them,” said coach Robert Leathers.
Calvin Johnson had 19 points for French Camp and Everett Holland 10.
The Panthers trailed Kosciusko by only three points, 10-7, after one quarter, but were outscored 17-7 in the second period.
Despite the loss, Leathers said it was the Panthers’ best defensive effort of the season against a strong 4A school. “They’re a really good team. They’re really quick and they shoot the ball well,” he said of Kosciusko.
“Defensively, we played about as well as we can play. Offensively, we have a lot of work to do. We moved the ball well and had wide open shots at lot of times, but we cannot put the ball in the basket when we need to.”
Clayton Leathers and Cameron Smith had seven points each against Kosciusko.
A concern for Leathers is his team’s free throw shooting. Against Nanih Waiya, the Panthers were 4 of 13 from the line. “My players need to shoot more free throws in practice.”
GIRLS
The Lady Panthers defeated Nanih Waiya 42-29 but lost to Kosciusko 70-59.
Madison Klein had 20 points and Jasmine Bonty 10 points and 17 rebounds against Nanih Waiya.
“It was a pretty good game for us,” coach Priscila Anderson said. “Offensively, we found our rhythm.”
Anderson said Klein had 20 points despite drawing triple coverage whenever she had the ball.
A bad first quarter doomed the Lady Panthers against Kosciusko. French Camp was outscored 27-8 during the first eight minute period, but outscored Kosciusko 51-43 the rest of the way.
“I think the first quarter, they were just intimidated,” Anderson said of her players. “Once we settled down, we did well. That game was just what we need going into our district schedule.”
French Camp shot 55 percent from the floor, connecting on 27 of 49 shots. Klein scored 21 points and Bonty had 20 points on 9 of 10 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds. Eleven players scored for Kosciusko, led by Katie Mitchell with 15 points.
The Panthers and Lady Panthers begin Region 5-1A play Thursday with a home game against Ethel. It will be the last games before the New Year.
