Despite scoring in the 40s in both its games this week, Elmore County’s boys basketball team couldn’t hold off its opponents defensively. The Panthers suffered a 56-43 loss against Pike Road last Tuesday and were defeated by Loachapoka, 56-42, on Friday night.
Against the Patriots, Keshawn Benson was on fire to start the game. He led the Panthers (2-8) with 18 points, including 12 in the first half. Payton Stephenson picked up the pace in the second half, draining all 11 of his points in the final two quarters.
Cole Boothe contributed nine points but only two others got on the scorebook.
ECHS continued to shoot a ton of 3-pointers, scoring 30 of its 43 points against Pike Road via longballs.
The Panthers didn’t have the same luck against Loachpoka. Although more players contributed offensively, they couldn’t score quite enough to keep up after leading 8-4 in the first quarter.
Benson scored 11 points, eight of which were free throws, and Zion Reed contributed 10. Hayden Holton pitched in eight points.
Girls struggle to find scoring
As has been the story all year, Elmore County continued to struggle with finding consistent scoring this week in two of its lowest girls basketball outputs of the year. The Panthers were defeated by Pike Road, 54-16, last Tuesday then fell to Loachapoka, 41-24.
Seanna O’Daniel led the offense against the Patriots, scoring eight points. No one else scored more than four. Madison Britt grabbed seven rebounds off the glass while Bri Autrey and O’Daniel split 10 evenly. O’Daniel also contributed two steals.
Against Loachapoka, CK Bolton paced the offense with nine points. Kelley Green added six points and O’Daniel followed with five. But this game, the Panthers (5-5) really struggled on the boards, totaling only 12 rebounds. CJ Thornton did have three steals.
After starting the season 4-1, the Panthers have now lost four of their last five.
