By Lori Brown
MONTICELLO — December 28, 2010 — Each team was looking to earn its first victory of the season last Wednesday night when the Monticello Lady Panthers hosted the Liberty Lady Indians in a non-league basketball game.
Liberty took an early lead in the first quarter and held that advantage through the second and third quarters. Going into the fourth period, the Lady Indians were ahead 30-24.
But Monticello outscored Liberty 16 to 7 in the final eight minutes of play to record a 40-37 win.
Arianna Dacosta started the Lady Panthers’ fourth-quarter comeback as she stole the ball and landed a layup while being fouled. She went on to score seven points during the quarter.
Monticello (1-2) took advantage of foul shots to mount its comeback. The team made 8 of 9 free throws in the fourth period.
Monticello’s Yamilersy Reyes made two foul shots to tie the score at 36-36 with 2:20 left in the game. Dacosta stole the ball and landed a layup to put the Lady Panthers in the lead, 38-36.
Liberty’s Megahn Burke made a foul shot to bring her team within a point, but Monticello’s Shamira Moore scored with 1:17 remaining on the clock to make it a 40-37 game. Liberty (0-4) called three timeouts in just 51 seconds of play to try to talk strategy to land a 3-point shot before the clock ran down.
But the Lady Indians ran out of time and Monticello held on for the victory.
Liberty dominated the first quarter by putting seven points on the scoreboard before Monticello’s Yadira Montes converted a basket halfway through the quarter. Soon after, teammate Shamira Moore added a basket to bring the Lady Panthers to within three at 7-4. Later in the quarter, Liberty’s Olivia Baum converted a pair of foul shots to give her team a 9-5 lead.
The Lady Indians started off the second period by scoring seven consecutive points. Justice Dingevan swished a 3-point shot and teammates Baum and Sierra Boxberger each scored a basket.
With 1:24 left until halftime, the Lady Panthers put together a scoring run of their own. Moore netted all six points during the run after her teammates made some crucial steals and rebounds. The run helped Monticello cut the Liberty lead to 16-14 at halftime.
Moore led Monticello to victory by scoring a game-high 18 points. She also recorded eight rebounds and eight steals.
Also contributing to the Lady Panthers’ win were Reyes (six steals, three rebounds), Charnelle Bridges (11 rebounds, one steal) and Montes (seven rebounds, four steals).
“Yamilersy Reyes did a great job at point guard,” Monticello Coach Karen Atack said. “Zequia Revell had very important rebounds.
“We made foul shots and stole the ball,” Atack added. “It was very chaotic and we lacked composure. We will take the win.”
Monticello held the advantage at the free-throw line. The Lady Panthers made 12 of 21 (57 percent) foul shots, while the Lady Indians converted 7 of 13 (54 percent) foul shots.
Liberty’s top scorers were sisters Victoria Baum and Olivia Baum. Victoria had 10 points, while Olivia netted nine points.
“It is just the way it goes,” Liberty Coach Beth Quatrale said of Monticello’s come-from-behind win.
Despite the loss, Quatrale was very happy with the way the Lady Indians played.
“They did everything we wanted them to do,” she said. “They came out and played with heart. Tonight was a team effort. Victoria Baum, our junior point guard, took a leadership role tonight, but ended up fouling out of the game.”