BY MIKE ROSE
HOPEWELL, N.Y. — The Elba Lancers (21-4) went wire-to-wire Saturday to knock off the Panama Panthers, 58-47. Panama rallied to tie the game in the fourth quarter on two occasions after trailing by as many as 15, but the Lancers held firm. The win moves Elba to the New York State semifinals for the first time since 2012.
“It’s awesome, these young girls right here I’ve had them since modified all the up and to keep the program going (after) Tom Nowak and Tom Redband to keep it going for me is an honor,” Elba head coach Charlie Pangrazio said. “These girls put in a lot of time in the offseason. I honestly thought we could be here. Did I think we could win it, that was a 50/50 but these girls work hard and it’s awesome for Elba, it’s awesome.”
Sydney Reilly delivered go-ahead three-pointers to give Elba 46-43 and 49-46 leads in the fourth quarter. The Lancers never trailed in the game. Lydia Ross starred with 26 points and five three-pointers for Elba. Four of the sophomore’s triples came in a 16-point second-half effort.
“Lydia Ross is by far one of our biggest players,” Pangrazio said. “She puts in so much time with so many different people and she’s just so smooth. Nothing ever rattles Lydia so it’s a pleasure to watch that girl play basketball.”
“It’s definitely all about mindset,” Ross said. “You gotta just keep trucking along knowing that it’s a new game, that it can always be different in a good or bad way.”
Elba raced out to a quick start. All five starters scored in the opening quarter as the Lancers built a 13-5 edge. Elba kept things rolling in the second as they took a 10-point lead into halftime. Panama went into the break shooting 7-for-25 from the floor. Kaitlyn Horton was the bright spot for the Panthers scoring 12 of her team-high 18 in the first half.
Panama chipped away in the third. Ross was the lone Lancer to make a field goal in the quarter as the lead was trimmed to eight entering the fourth quarter. The Panthers opened on an 11-3 run with Jessica Lyon scoring eight. With the game tied, Reilly stepped and drilled a three-pointer. Lyon responded with a triple to tie the game before Reilly put Elba ahead for good with her third three of the game.
“They’ve been a pretty resilient team, that Panama team so we knew we had to keep scoring,” Pangrazio said. “The girls kind of got a little ahead of themselves I believe but they’ve been down this road so many times, they know how to come back and stick to the plan and they can make it a little stressful for the old man but they came through for us.”
Reilly finished with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. Mariah Ognibene posted eight points for the Lancers. Lyon scored all 11 of her points in the fourth quarter for the Panthers. Kylie Morgan posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Lancers will head into the state semifinals riding with confidence amidst a six-game winning streak.
“We’re just gonna do us,” Reilly said. “We’re gonna go to practice Monday, start off strong and we’re gonna get on that bus Friday and hopefully win the state championship. That’s our plan, we’re winning.”
Elba will face Northville (II) in Saturday’s semifinals. Tip-off at Hudson Valley Community College is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.
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