Panthers roll to easy win

Mon. February 20, 2012 at 10:00 p.m. | By Bruce Wehrle

WALLBURG | At first glance it would appear that the Ledford girls played outstanding defense on the way to a rousing 56-20 victory over A.L. Brown Monday night in the 3-A Midwest sectional at Ledford High School.

And that would be partially true.

But the Wonders played the game without three starters and it showed on the court where Kannapolis turned the ball over 30 times — including 19 times in the first half — as the second-seeded Panthers improved to 21-4 for the season.

“We had three starters out with injury and we’ve been playing like that for most of the year,” said Wonders’ coach Mike Wolford. “It really hasn’t been that much of an issue for us. But their (Ledford) defense, their fullcourt press and man-to-man pressure and the half-court were as good as we’ve seen all year for sure. And we’ve played some top 3-A teams like Carson, who’s 18-3 and a sixth seed.

“It wasn’t as much of us not executing as it was them pushing us out of what we wanted to do and it hurt us,” said Wolford. “Even when we did have an opportunity to score we didn’t take advantage.”

The Panthers took control of the game right from the start. Emmalee Thomas drained a 3-pointer early — the first of her four 3-point baskets — as Ledford jumped out to a 13-1 lead in the first period and built that to 30-5 by halftime.

Meanwhile, the Wonders were either turning the ball over or taking wild, hurried shots at the basket. Jennifer Raper’s 3-pointer midway through the second period was the only field goal in the first half for Kannapolis.

The game was a series of runs for the Panthers. After trailing 1-0, Ledford scored 20 straight points. Then came a 10-point run, followed by a 14-0 run.

It was that kind of a night.

Ledford coach John Ralls knew the Wonders were without some players but also thought his team played well defensively. The key for his team was being able to keep its focus the length of the game.

“They were missing some players, but we still did pretty good,” acknowledged Ralls. “But I thought we stayed focused pretty well. We went to the zone press to change it up a little bit and had a 14-0 run that totally put it away.”

Wolford said he tried to get his team back in the game with a press.

“We tried our press and normally that’s what we would do,” said Wolford. “And our press has been good at times this year. “But without our depth and the way they (Ledford) handled the ball, it pretty much broke our press. The game was pretty much over by halftime.”

The loss ended the Wonders’ season at 12-13.

Thomas ended up with 18 points for the night.

Ledford plays again Wednesday, most likely against Charlotte Harding (21-3).