Purdham leads Panthers with game-high 23 points
By Randy Arrington
SHENANDOAH, Jan. 6 — The Page County girls basketball team picked up a Bull Run District win on Tuesday night over the visiting Generals of Stonewall Jackson, 63-29.
“This is two in-a-row with Fort last night,” PCHS head coach EJ Wyant said after Tuesday’s home win. The Panthers beat the Indians on Monday, 49-38, in non-distict action. “So I like how our girls are playing and a lot of that is just their confidence is building and we are really getting after it.”
Senior Ali Purdham once again lead the Panthers with a game-high 23 points. The point guard hit four three-pointers and scored a total of 14 points in just the first quarter. Her last two triples hit back-to-back in the final minute of the first frame.
“I think she sees that we’re playing with confidence and just kinda letting it loose a little bit,” Coach Wyant said. “She feeds off that, and in turn, the others feed off of her.”
The Panthers took a commanding 28-6 lead in the first eight minutes, hitting six three-pointers. Page shot 42 percent from the floor on the night and had four players in double-digits.
Junior Adi Caton put up 12 points and played strong on both ends of the court.
“She’s playing really well,” Coach Wyant said. “Again, I think it goes back to confidence. In some ways, we’ve taken the reins off of them a little bit and just kinda letting them play. Sometimes on the varsity level, we maybe boggle down too much and I felt like we were maybe doing that a little bit. So we kinda let the reins off a little bit and said let’s just play.”
Following that theme of “playing loose”, senior forward Kahlei Shifflett, who usually puts up points in the paint, scored six of her 12 points on the night from beyond the arc.
“She’s got a nice shot, and we’re confident in it,” Coach Wyant said. “I think maybe we’re more confident in it than she is… because we’re always like ‘Shoot the ball, shoot the ball’ and she finally shot it tonight.”
Page County won all four quarters, going to halftime up 38-16, and closing out a 34-point victory. Junior Lindsay Babb closed out the double-digit scorers with 10 points, including two triples in the first quarter. Overall, the Panthers hit 42 percent from the floor, 50 percent from the line and committed 11 turnovers.
Senior Catherine Cronin lead the Generals with 10 points, while sophomore Aliyah Ogle had nine and junior Hannah Dove added six. Overall, Stonewall Jackson hit only 28 percent of their shots from the floor, 33 percent from the line, and the visitors committed 19 turnovers.
With two-straight wins under their belt, Coach Wyant sees his team building something.
“I think the confidence, the commraderie, chemistry is the main thing,” he said.
Up next, Page County (1-2, 4-6) will try to build off two-straight wins as they face two straight road games. The Panthers travel to Woodstock to face the Falcons of Central at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, and then to Berryville to face the Eagles of Clarke County at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13.
Stonewall Jackson (0-4, 0-9) enters a three-game home stretch — hosting Clarke on Friday, Stuarts Draft on Monday, and Luray next Friday, Jan. 16
For schedules, rosters and results, check the Bull Run District website.
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