Basketball: Panthers Overpower Huskies

Flint Hill School hosted Paul VI Catholic High School for matchups between both the boys and girls squads Saturday, but both fell short of notching home victories.

The girls fell to the Panthers 56-38, while the Husky boys lost 71-56.

Girls Can't Overcome Early Deficit

The girls squad fell behind from the start, with the Panthers jumping ahead 14-2 to start the first period. The Huskies and Panthers would tack on eight and six points, respectively, to end the first period 20-10. 

The Panthers dominated the second period, holding the Huskies to five points while adding 13 of their own.

The Huskies may have been down, but they certainly were not out. They came back from halftime recharged and motivated. Because of the Panthers' strength and size, head coach Jody Patrick decided to rely on zone defense, which held the Panthers to eight points in the third, their lowest-scoring period.

The Huskies also dominated offensively in the third, downing four 3-pointers — three from Nicole Freeman, one from Alex Long — along with a jump shot and two foul shots from Alison Bragaw-Butler to score 16 points and tighten the point gap to 41-33.

"We go into the second half, whether we're winning or losing, we always go in saying the score is 0-0. You've got 16 minutes to do something and you have to take advantage of it," Patrick said.

But the Panthers adjusted and kept down the Huskies offense in the last period, ending the game 56-38.

Husky Points: Alison Bragaw-Butler (14), Nicole Freeman (9), Alex Long (5), Savannah Block (2), Katherine Doyle (2) and Shea Patrick (2)

Boys Relinquish Lead in Second Half

The Flint Hill boys squad played an aggressive game, holding their own throughout the first half to a tough Panther squad that boasts four Division 1 signees. But in the end they fell to the undefeated Paul VI team 71-56.

The back-and-forth first period had the two teams evenly matched, but the Huskies gained an edge with the entrance of Chrystian Brown toward the end of the period. With the game tied 10-10, Brown scored a 3-pointer and layup, and teammate Mo Berchie — who also led the team with his 19 points — added two more to give the Huskies a 17-10 lead.

But after a few mental mistakes that resulted in turnovers, the Panthers brought the score to a 1-point difference heading into the second period, and also ended the half up one point with the score at 36-35.

"We made mistakes at the end of each of the first two quarters, so even though we were happy to be up one, I think we could've played better than that," head coach Rico Reed said.

The Panthers returned from halftime with a more aggressive offense that dominated the Huskies through the third period, outscoring them 16-7.

"We missed a lot of shots, and some of that comes from not being confident in those tight situations," Reed said. "I'm hoping we learn from this effort and become more confident."

The Huskies put forth a better offensive game in the fourth, but could not slow down the Panthers. The Huskies lost 71-56.

"I thought we played well. We forced PVI to do some things they're not accustomed to doing and we had them a little uncomfortable," Reed said. "They're one of the better teams in the area, they deserve all the recognition they're getting, and we held up pretty well against them."

Husky Points: Mo Berchie (19), Chrystian Brown (10), Brian McDonald (9), Troy Thomas (8), Trevor Ogundepo (6), Daniel Giguere (2), Andy Rehberger (2)