Lady Panther come up short against Riley County

The Royal Valley High School girls varsity basketball team came up short against Riley County in the opening round of the Class 3A sub-state basketball tournament Monday.

The Lady Panthers fell 36-33 to the Falcons on the road in Riley County, and the loss ended their season at 7-14 overall.

In the first quarter, the Falcons put up 16 points and kept the Panthers to 5.

“I think our nerves got the best of us a little bit,” RVHS coach Corey Katzer said. “We had five kids on the floor that had never participated in a sub-state game.”

Although the Panthers were down 23-13 at the half, they worked to close the gap during the next two quarters.

“Our kids have grown up and developed this year because I think that if we had been down that much in a game at the beginning of the year, there would have been a pretty good chance that game would have gotten out of hand, and to their credit, it didn’t,” coach Katzer said.

By the end of the third, the Panthers were down by just 4 points 27-23 and were looking for opportunities to tie or take the lead in the last eight minutes.

“We were able to put the brakes on them a little bit and took one possession at a time,” Katzer said.

In the final seconds of the game, RV junior Marlissa Jordan banked in a three-point shot, but the Panthers didn’t have another opportunity to score. 

“I know they were disappointed, but I couldn’t have been prouder of the group,” he said. “They did everything we asked of them, and they should be excited for the next couple of years.”

Lexi Baker is the lone senior for the Lady Panthers, as senior Maggie Schuetz was sidelined earlier this season with injuries.

“We’re looking forward to continue to develop,” coach Katzer said. “If we can continue to develop one more skill set in each player, then a game like Monday turns into a win.”

Riley County advances to the second round of the tournament and will face Perry-Lecompton Thursday in St. Marys. The winner of that game will advance to the finals on Saturday.

RV: 5-8-10-10 – 33

Riley County: 16-7-4-9 – 36

Individual statistics

RV: Thompson 5 0-0 10, Jordan 1 (2) 0-0 8, Russell 2 1-4 5, Stithem 2 0-0 4, Broxterman 1 2-4 4, Ogden 1 0-0 2. Totals 12 (2) 3-8 33.

Riley County: Crubel 1 (3) 9-13 20, Oliver 1 (1) 0-0 5, Vargo 0 (1) 1-2 4, Herron 0 (1) 0-0 3, Earhart 0 2-6 2, Thomson 0 2-2 2. Totals 2 (6) 14-23 36.