JOHN CURTIS - Daily Union Sports Editor
Pana used a strong first quarter to dig a hole for St. Anthony, then a strong fourth quarter to bury the Bulldogs in the Pana 2A Regional semifinal on Wednesday, 52-33.
Grace Holthuas, who upped her career-high again (15 points), opened the scoring with a 3-pointer early. Pana never trailed in this game. Holthaus cued an 18-8 run for the Panthers to start the game.
Despite that early run and an 18-11 first quarter lead, Pana let St. Anthony creep within five points by half-time, after a low-scoring second frame, 8 to-6 in St A's favor, 24-19. St. Anthony cut the lead to four points in the third, but then the Panthers got it back out to seven points by the end of the third, 34-27. Pana picked it up in crunch time with an 18-6 run to pull away, helped by 8-of-10 foul shooting in the fourth quarter.
Katie Lees, who recorded a double-double to lead Pana (13 points, 10 rebounds), was 3-of-4 at the line. Holthaus was 2-of-2 and Jessica Etter was 2-for-2 at the line.
"This was a good regional semifinal win for us against a very solid team with quick guards," said Pana coach JR Boudouris. "Their pressure cause us a little bit of trouble in the second quarter (10 of Pana's 21 turnovers). But, we made a couple of adjustments and took better care of the ball in the second half. Our defense was also rock solid the entire game."
Pana out-rebounded St. Anthony 28 to 24 and had fewer turnovers 21 to 25. Although Pana had too many turnovers, their assist to turnover ratio was 2.5 to 3 and their assist/steal to turnover ratio was 9 to 7.
Pana (18-10) takes on #1 seed Teutopolis (25-2) in the championship game on Thursday.
Teutopolis is not only the #1 seed in the regional, they are ranked #3 in the state. Their only losses are to Breese Mater Dei, which is undefeated and ranked #2 in the state.
"We have wanted a rematch with T'town since the first time we played them in early December," Coach Boudouris said. "We know what a challenge this will be both mentally and physically. We must take good care of the ball and play flawless interior defense to have a shot. We are looking forward to the opportunity."
Pana 2A Regional Semi
Pana52, St. Anthony 33
Pana 18-6-10-18--52
St A 11-8-8-6--33
Pana stats: Holthaus 15 (2-2s, 3-3 pt FGs, 2/2 FTs), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Lees 13 (5 FGs, 3/4 FTs), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals; Megan DeWerff 6 (1-2, 1-3 pt FGs, 1/6 FTs), 6 assists; Allison Allen 6 (3 FGs), 4 rebounds, 1 assist; Nadine Vaughn 6 (3 FGs), 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals;Etter 4 (FG, 2/2 FTs), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals; Jessica Harbert 2 (FG), 1 assist; Ericka Bumgardner 2 rebounds, 1 assist; Ashley Funneman 1 rebound. Team FGs 20 (42%). 3-pointers: 4 (Holthaus 3, DeWerff 1) (31%). Team FTs 8-of-14. Rebounds 28. Assists 17. Steals 10. Turnovers 21
St A stats: Victoria Wolke 13 (1-2, 2-3 pt FGs, 5/7 FTs), Lena Grunloh 6 (3 FGs), Leah Dallmier 4 (2 FGs, 0/1 FTs), Kelly McHugh 3 (FG, 1/5 FTs), Amber Wenthe 3 (FG), Katie Bishop 2 (FG), Naomi Gray 2 (FG). Team FGs 12 (3-3 pt: Wolke 2, Wenthe 1). Team FTs 6-of-13. Rebounds 24. Turnovers 25
