Gallery by Tina Laney
Shady Spring – Tracy Raban knew she was taking on a rebuilding project when she resigned as the head coach at PikeView and accepted the same position for at Shady Spring.
Her former team reminded her of that on the scoreboard in Tuesday’s opener, as the Panthers roamed into Shady and handed the Tigers a 57-39 defeat in a game that was more competitive than the final score indicated.
But in all, a contest against a team she coached for four years and led to three state tournament appearances gave her hope and built upon her preseason expectations as her current team reminded her.
“I’m not disappointed one bit,” Raban said. “Yes, I’m a competitor and wanna win every game, but with their experience that they had on that floor and the lack of experience that we had, we’re building something. It’s gonna take time, it’s not gonna happen overnight. So to be in the ballgame at the point in the time that we were, it felt like it was a victory for us and I felt like our girls felt like it was a victory too. I mean they keep reminding me last year it was 40-4 at halftime and then (Shady) scored 15 points for the total game. So to be in that, I think the girls are buying in, it’s just finding what they’re capable of doing and we still got some time. It’s gonna take us some time, but if everybody will be patient, I think we’re gonna see a different group.”
While the Tigers scored just 15 points in a loss to the Panthers a year ago, 15 again proved to the turning point in Tuesday’s contest.
With Shady leading 14-12 after an Austyn Barnes layup, the hosts hit a drought before reaching 15. The Panthers toppled 15 by a point, running off a 16-0 run for a 29-14 advantage that gave the visitors a permanent advantage.
“Well we switched defenses,” PikeView head coach Tony Mallamaci said. “Because whichever we were in in the first half, we tried two different ones and neither one of them was effective. We put a different defense in and they seemed to react to that, but it was a little bit more simple. They could just react instead of having to think. I think that was one of the things, and then we kind of relaxed on offense and started moving the ball a little bit better, taking a little bit better shots.”
Whatever the changes, Shady’s offense, which survived on 3-point attempts, was cold from inside the arc. The Tigers finished the first half with just two 2-point field goals against four 3-pointers. Most of the damage came from Skyler Gibson, who nailed three long balls in the first half.
She benefitted from the extra attention given to Shady senior Kendra Pizzino, the top permitter threat for the Tigers in years past.
“The point of emphasis the whole game was to make sure No. 24 (Pizzino) didn’t get any open looks,” Mallamaci said. “We knew she was their best shooter but strangely enough when we went into zone we did better than we did in the first half.”
PikeView took a 29-17 lead into the half and led 40-27 after three quarters but couldn’t quite shake the Tigers who were able to stay within 10 points for most of the final frame. But PikeView all-stater Riley Meadows proved to be the perfect closer, getting downhill late. She scored eight of her game-high 18 points in the fourth quarter will all of them coming from the free throw line.
“That’s her strong point – driving in, drawing the foul and getting points at the foul line,” Mallamaci said. “That’s a strong point. We’re trying to improve her outside shooting a little bit, at least mid-range, and she’s not bad there but she’s just got be a little bit more consistent with it. But she’s a heck of a competitor and very, very good player. She played huge.”
For Raban the turning point was the second quarter where the Tigers shot under 25 percent from the floor while the Panthers converted at a 50 percent clip during their 16-0 run.
“I think it’s just the lack of experience,” Raban said. “We’ve got kids out on the floor that haven’t played very many minutes and I’m just trying to get them experience. I felt like they felt found the gaps and we were out of place and to me we had too many unforced turnovers. We gave them easy baskets that led to easy transition baskets and we just weren’t able to get a stop there when we needed to. ”
Tylar Burks joined Meadows in double with 11 points. Austyn Barnes led Shady with 13 while Gibson netted 10.
PV: 11 18 11 17 – 57
SS: 12 5 10 12 – 39
PikeView (1-0)
Haley Justice 5, Riley Meadows 18, Jocelyn Hall 7, Karis Trump 5, Jaelynn Shrewbury 7, Emma Rye 4, Tylar Burks 11
Shady Spring (0-1)
Meagan Hendrick 4, Austyn Barnes 13, Charlotte Glende 6, Skyler Gibson 10, Kendra Pizzino 4, Peyton Raban 2
