Lady Panthers dominate Reeltown, claim area title
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LANETT — Throughout his career at Lanett High School, girls’ head coach Charlie Williams has fielded teams that were extremely talented and unlucky, and others that were hardworking and lucky.
Even though Smith considers his current squad to rely more on dedication than natural skill, the Lady Panthers’ (14-9, 6-0) stars still shined bright as three players scored 14-plus points to help defeat Reeltown High School (13-5, 3-3) 61-42 on Feb. 7 in the 2A Area 6 championship game.
It is LHS’ fifth-straight area championship.
In win-or-go-home situations, Williams knows that his best players need to show up and perform to give them the best shot of advancing. In that regard, this past Saturday’s game was a good tune up and what he wanted to see.
With the unpredictability of Friday’s sub-regional round on the horizon, he also took a second to soak in the atmosphere and watch as his players celebrated with their family and friends. It was a sweet moment in time that many will look back on in the years ahead.
“You’ve got to have that this time of year. You’ve got to have that balance. You’ve got to have that feel,” Williams said. “I’ve been doing this now for 21-plus years. I love seeing this part of the kids having fun and enjoying it. Because for some of these kids, it’s going to be the last time they play basketball. So I enjoy this part.”
After recording a triple-double in the opening round game against Loachapoka High School, leading scorer Nakeriona Heard was hungry to prove herself and help lead her team on a deep playoff run.
“When the postseason gets here, it’s time to show people what we’ve really been working on,” Heard said. “A lot of people look at this name [Lanett] across my chest and see nothing. But to me, it means a lot, and I’ve got to show these people what it really means.”
The Lady Panthers faced an early deficit to the Lady Rebels after RHS’ Crystal Smith and Cailee Allen combined for eight points to fuel a 15-12 run. In response, Heard exploded for 10 points alone in the second quarter as LHS’ defense held RHS to just eight points as the Lady Panthers took a 28-23 halftime lead.
Following the break, eighth grade phenom Serenity Roberts stamped her mark on the game with 11 third-quarter points of her own to put LHS up 43-33 going into the fourth quarter. A complete team effort on both ends of the court led to a 16-8 Lady Panthers’ run and ended any hopes the Lady Rebels had for mounting a comeback.
Heard finished as the top scorer for LHS with 19 points, while Serenity Roberts and Makenley James finished with 17 and 14 points, respectively. Smith led the Lady Rebels with 15 points, and Allen chipped in 11 points.
