Panthers keeping pace in NBC title race

Maumee's Myla Jordan / Pride of the Panthers

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

If a team is only as good as the sum of its parts, it can cause too much stress on the remaining pieces when you take one of those parts away.

Yet despite missing one of its most important pieces last week, the Maumee girls basketball is a couple of plays away from still being perfect five games into the season.

The Panthers split a pair of Northern Buckeye Conference games last week, beating host Eastwood, 46-36, after narrowly losing a home game to Oak Harbor, 52-50.

Maumee was playing without starting point guard Taylor Smith, who injured her ankle late in a win at Fostoria. Smith is averaging 17.7 points, 4.3 steals and 3.3 assists in her first three games, so her loss was no small task to overcome.

“Everyone we had, we told them they have to step up, next one up,” Maumee coach Rafael Soler said.

While Smith is expected back in a limited role this week, the spotlight turned to some other players on the Maumee roster.

Izzy Yancy had 11 points and nine boards in the loss to Oak Harbor, and Reign Hurt added 11 points and four assists. Freshman Taryn Pyle had nine points.

“Izzy has been stepping up the whole year, playing great defensively down low without fouling, which is such a tough thing to do,” Soler said.

“Taryn played amazing (against Oak Harbor). That’s what we needed. We needed that kind of effort from everybody to be able to be in that game at the end.”

Lucy Porter had her second straight double-double against the Rockets, going for 13 points and 12 rebounds.

“They believe in what we’re doing, they believe in each other,” Soler said. “Everything is for the good of the team. Lucy had four points halfway through the third quarter. She was passing the ball around, knowing that teams key on her. It speaks volumes of who these girls are and what they bring every day.”

After the loss, Soler knew that bitter taste wouldn’t last long, calling his team “resilient.”

Judging by Saturday’s win at Eastwood, he was right.

Porter nearly had a triple-double, with 15 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. She connected on three 3-pointers.

Hurt had 13 points, with a trio of treys, Myla Jordan added five points, five steals and four boards, and Yancy had three points and eight rebounds.

The Panthers trailed by three points after the first period, but they took a four-point lead into halftime. The Eagles cut into the deficit in the third, but Maumee outscored them 20-12 in the fourth.

Maumee forced 18 turnovers and scored 18 points off of them.

The Panthers ended the week 4-1 overall and 4-1 in the Northern Buckeye Conference. They are tied with Oak Harbor for second in the league, 1/2 game behind Genoa.

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers

Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com