Girls' basketball: Lady Panthers fall in overtime

The Lady Panthers (0-5) lost in overtime to Oconee County 62-55 Tuesday night. After sending the game to overtime with a three pointer, the Lady Warriors hit three three-pointers in the extra period to take the win.

Still, coach John Hawley wasn’t deterred by the close loss.

“Great team effort tonight and we’re back on track,” coach John Hawley said. (I’m) really proud of the effort and fight tonight.”

Katie Phillips scored a season-high 18 points and grabbed five rebounds. Danni Cunningham registered a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds.

Prior to Tuesday, Jackson County dropped to 0-4 with a pair of losses in the Titan Turkey Classic at North Oconee where the Lady Panthers suffered a little bit of the holiday malaise.

“We didn’t play as well as we did prior to Thanksgiving,” coach John Hawley said.

Jackson County opened the North Oconee tournament with its most lopsided loss thus far this season, losing 47-22 Friday to Habersham Central, a Class AAAA team that won 19 games last year.

Macey Latty led Jackson County with eight points — all of which came in the first half. Mason Garland added seven.

Following a fairly close first half, the Lady Panthers were outscored 15-4 in the third quarter and trailed by as much as 29 in the fourth quarter. Jackson County, again, had problems keeping a handle on the ball.

“Turnovers are the big issue that’s plaguing us right now,” Hawley said.

Jackson County lost 44-31 the next night to Whitewater, a Class AAAA school from Fayetteville. Garland led the Lady Panthers with nine points, while Katie Phillips had eight. Jackson County trailed 20-11 at the half, but narrowed the gap to 26-22 after three quarters.

“I thought we had better effort as far as getting back and recovering and things like that,” Hawley said.

Though Jackson County saw its struggles at the North Oconee tournament, Hawley isn’t panicking.

“They’re all correctable aspects of the game,” Hawley said.