Carolina Forest girls’ shooting woes prove costly in loss to West Florence

Even on one of an atypically warm winter night, the Carolina Forest girls basketball team had trouble shaking a cold.

Despite a solid defensive performance, the Panthers’ shooting woes inevitably got the best of them Tuesday night, losing a key region matchup to West Florence, 42-33.

“We just couldn’t buy a shot,” said Carolina Forest girls basketball coach Stacy Hughes. “Some nights it is like that, and it is certainly frustrating. But all we can do is get back in the gym tomorrow and go right back to work.”

Early on, an attacking Knights team used an aggressive half-court trap to force Carolina Forest into turnovers that translated into easy points. Following a 3-pointer in the second quarter by Chanelle Hayes, West Florence found itself up 14-5 and had the Panthers head coach looking for answers.

While an unwanted stoppage in play, the dividends of calling time revealed itself in the next several minutes as Carolina Forest went on a 9-2 run to cut the Knights’ lead to two. The Panthers would trim the West Florence advantage to a single point by halftime at 21-20.

The teams played fairly even basketball in the third, the teams exchanging the lead on several occasions, and neither of them leading by more than three points.

When an Alexis Tomlin shot went through the net to begin the fourth period, the Panthers held a 31-29 lead as well as momentum to finally complete the long road back after digging themselves an early hole.

West Florence had other ideas, however.

Carolina Forest would not score again for the next five minutes, while the Knights offense suddenly picked up steam, going on a 13-4 run to put the game on ice.

“It’s just one of those things,” Hughes said. “Our defensive effort and intensity was good enough. But we just couldn’t get a bucket to fall.

“Much of the night, we had wide-open shots, open opportunities and none of them would fall. That may be the toughest part about it, we did everything right but knock those shots down.”

Worse, the Panthers were unable to take advantage of a solid night by Tomlin, whose 21 points were a game high.

“(Tomlin) had a good night, and she helped bring us back when we were down early,” Hughes said. “But it was just not enough.”

Sharpshooter Ellen Nardella was unable to find her stroke from the field, scoring only three points – each from the free throw line. Point guard Cheyenne Pyles scored six points.

Meanwhile, Hayes led West Florence with 14 points.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 11:04 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest girls’ shooting woes prove costly in loss to West Florence."