Latta girls grab back-to-back tournament wins

Dec. 14—LATTA — The Latta Lady Panthers shook off a tough first-round loss to Lindsay and used back-to-back victories to claim the consolation championship of the won the consolation championship of the 2022 Latta Panther Classic.

The Lady Panthers cruised past Kiowa 46-27 in Saturday's consolation title game. On Friday, the tournament hosts knocked off Crowder 46-24. Latta had absorbed a 34-31 loss to Lindsay in first-round action.

Coach Clay Plunk's squad, ranked No. 18 in Class 2A, improved to 4-5 on the year.

"I was really proud of our kids battling this week after grinding through some disappointing losses," Plunk told The Ada News. "Two wins in this tournament is always an accomplishment and it took a lot of kids working together to make it happen."

Latta 45, Kiowa 27

The Lady Panthers used solid defense to get off to a good start against the Cowgirls. Latta limited Kiowa to just two points in the first quarter and used an 18-8 surge in the second to build a 25-10 halftime lead. The hosts finished the game on a 13-5 run.

Freshman Kelbey Parnacher paced the LHS bunch with 19 points, including a pair of 3-point baskets. Savannah Senkel added eight points for the Lady Panthers and Brooklyn Ryan followed with seven.

Latta helped its own cause by hitting 14-of-18 free throws.

Paige Igou and Maccie Bain paced Stuart with nine points. Mollie Bain was next with seven.

"We did a good job putting some pressure on their guards, led by Brooklyn and Kelbey, and were able to force some turnovers that got us going in the second quarter.," Plunk said. "We really shot free throws well today and finished. It was a really good team effort."

Latta 46, Crowder 24

The Lady Demons grabbed an early 11-10 advantage but Latta roared back with a 12-3 second-quarter run that put the home team on top 22-14 at the break. Latta turned in another strong defensive performance in the third quarter and put the game out of reach with a 15-2 volley.

"We did a better job taking care of the basketball and was able to finish a little better at the rim.," Plunk said.

Brooklyn Ryan paced the Latta offense with 14 points, including three 3-point baskets. Savannah Senkel followed with 11 points and Kelbey Parnacher chipped in eight.

Alexus Lizik led Crowder with eight points and Elanie Monroe scored seven for the visitors.