Panthers down Huskies in high tempo game

In a much anticipated cross-county cat-dog game, the Park City girls outlasted the Huskies 55-47 in Absarokee on Dec. 19.
The Panthers’ full-court press, ball movement around the perimeter and outside shooting proved to be the difference, as the arch rivals played at a high tempo from beginning to end.
Both teams racked up numerous fouls, but no players fouled out and at times the question was which team had the stamina to finish the game at that level of intensity. Both coaches made good use of the bench.
“It was in quarter one when the girls found a rhythm finally,” Park City head coach Jason Federico said. “If we played the way we did Saturday, I would say we were undefeated instead of 2-2.”
The score was close in the first half, with several lead changes, but Park City moved ahead in the beginning of the second stanza, capturing a 10-point lead by the end of the third quarter.
“The problem is that in the first half we missed seven bunnies or shots from the paint,” Federico said.
Despite turnovers, the Huskies occasionally broke through the full-court press and found some players open at the scoring end of the court. But Park City stayed with their game plan, notching a 12 point lead midway into the fourth quarter.
Rebounding was about even at 33-32, with Absarokee up by one, Federico said. But the Panthers posted only 16 turnovers to the Huskies’ 27.
“They had 16 in the second half,” he said. “In the second half, we switched from full court and half-court man-to-man to 2-3 and 2-2-1 full court press, and in that second half they wore out physically.”
Panther scoring was balanced through the ranks. Junior forward Tehya Ray led with 13 followed by senior guard Hailee Gregerson at 10. Juniors MacKinzie Verke, Shelby Kluth and Shelby Branstetter each kicked in nine.
Scoring for the Huskies was a different story. Senior guard Maisey Sheppard led with 18 points, followed by senior forward Emma Chandler with 15.
“Park City is a really good team,” Husky head coach Travis Frickel said. “I thought our girls played very tough. We have to learn to minimize our turnovers and figure out a way to put the ball in the hole more frequently. I like how competitive our team is right now. Hopefully, we can keep getting better.”

From gazprepsports
Park City 55, Absarokee 47
Park City 12 11 17 15 — 55
Absarokee 11 9 10 17 — 47
Park City: MacKinzie Verke 9, Shelby Kluth 9, Tehya Ray 13, Hailee Gregerson 10, Shelby Branstetter 9, Cara Grewell 5.
Absarokee: Maisey Sheppard 18, Erin Campbell 1, Colleen Culbertson 5, Emma Chandler 15, Rebecka Lester 6, Katrina Feddes 2.