Lakeside girls bounce back after three losses

There was not much else the Lakeside girls could do to combat a recent skid.

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The Panthers were doing what they needed to get open. They squared their shoulders on jump shots and were getting to the basket.

The defense and transition game were still there.

But the shots were not falling.

The Panthers dropped consecutive games to Butler, Hephzibah and rival Greenbrier.

The short stretch of misfortune had started to take its toll mentally, Lakeside coach Maureen McCormack said. Her team bounced back Friday, finding a way to put the ball in the hoop and slow Evans during a 41-21 victory.

The win might not have been pretty, but it served its purpose.

"It feels good to get one under our belt," senior Chandra Wideman said.

Lakeside got needed production from its usual suspects. Juniors Carolyn Hennecken (18 points) and Tishal Turknett (10 points) ensured what was a close game early did not develop into a puzzling upset.

The Panthers led by a point after the first quarter. They stretched the lead to seven by halftime.

"We had a lot of good drives," senior Lindsey Weidenaar said. "We stopped taking the 3. We tried to work on our inside shots."

The Knights weren't done. They trimmed their deficit to four points with a little more than three minutes left in the third. But the Panthers scored the final seven points of the quarter and held the Knights to just a free throw during the final quarter.

KiKi Battle led Evans with 6 points. Senior Valerie Lawrence added 5 for the Knights.

The Panthers did not play or practice Saturday and so had a lengthy reprieve before returning to work this week.

Lakeside was 8-3 in Region 3-AAAA before Tuesday's game at Grovetown, still in good shape as it enters the final half of the season.

Lakeside will have another shot at the schools who dealt the team its three losses. The Panthers play at Glenn Hills on Jan. 29, Butler on Feb. 6 and at Hephzibah to close the regular season Feb. 9.