Lady Plainsmen take sixth at SPVA

The Perkins County girls finished the SPVA Tournament in sixth place after losses against Hershey and Sutherland.

Hershey

The first game of the SPVA Tournament for Perkins County was against Hershey.

Hershey’s Lady Panthers won the tip and made a three point basket within the first few seconds of the game.

After they made their shot, freshman Kailee Potts gained possession of the ball and hustled it to the basket for a layup, scoring the first points of the game for the Lady Plainsmen.

Ultimately, Hershey was able to gain 10 points in the first quarter to Perkins County’s seven.

Coach Deanne Bishop said though the girls got down early, they clawed their way back into things.

The Lady Plainsmen scored 12 points in the second quarter with Hershey not far behind at 11 points. The score was 19-21 going into half, and it was still anybody’s game.

Hershey started to significantly extend their lead in the second half, scoring 18 points in the third and holding Perkins County to 11 points, making the score 49-30.

In the final quarter, the Lady Panthers solidified their win by putting another 12 points on the board to the Lady Plainsmen’s four points.

The game ended with a score of 61-34. Hershey went on to finish second in the tournament, under Bridgeport.

According to Bishop, Hershey’s physicality and height were too much for the Lady Plainsmen to handle.

“They did a good job of attacking the basket and finding the open girl,” Bishop added.

Potts was the top scorer for Perkins County against Hershey with 19 points. She also managed to get four steals through the game.

Sutherland

After their loss to Hershey, Perkins County played Sutherland for their second game of the tournament.

Perkins County gained first possession of the ball but was unable to score due to a steal mid-pass by Sutherland.

The Sailors made the first basket of the game after Sutherland’s #21 sank a tre.

Perkins County scored their first baskets when senior Dani Burge sank both of her a lotted free throw shots with just under four minutes left on the clock.

Sutherland gained quite a lead on Perkins County in the first quarter, scoring 13 points to the Lady Plainsmen’s five, but Perkins County was determined to stay in the game.

In both the second and third quarters of the game, Perkins County put nine more points per quarter on the board, holding the Sailors to just eight points each.

The score going into the final quarter was 29-23.

In the fourth, the Lady Plainsmen picked up eight more points to Sutherland’s five, but it wasn’t enough for a victory.

“In the last minute of the game, we missed four free throws and around six shots, any of which would have put us in the lead,” Bishop said. “So we can’t say we didn’t have our chances.”

Perkins County fell to Sutherland 34-31, finishing the tournament in sixth place. Sutherland finished fifth overall.

Bishop attributed the loss to an “extremely low” field goal percentage of 15.9%.

“It’s tough to beat anyone if we shoot that poorly,” she said.

Potts was again the top scorer with 15 points. Sophomore Meredith Gloy got 10 rebounds and six steals throughout the game, and Burge was close behind in rebounds with eight.

Next Action

Tuesday, the girls hosted Holyoke for a home game. This was Holyoke’s first game of the season, as Colorado just allowed schools to start participating in extracurricular activities again.

“While our experience gives us an advantage, Holyoke has an excellent girls team and returns a solid lineup of varsity competitors,” Bishop said.

Thursday, the Lady Plainsmen will again hold a home game, this time against Sedgwick County. The varsity game will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 1, the girls will travel to Kimball for a make-up game from December. Their original game was postponed due to complications regarding Covid. Varsity girls will hit the court at 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Perkins County will host a game against Maxwell starting at 5 p.m. This evening will also be parents’ night for basketball and wrestling. Parents’ night will take place in between the varsity girls and varsity boys games.