Jimtown High School

By Red Williams Freelance Sportswriter ELKHART - It wasn’t “hump” day, but Jimtown High School’s girls basketball squad just couldn’t get by a barrier erected by Prairie Heights. The visiting Panthers survived in a tight game in which they led from start to finish, except for a brief 18-18 tie in the third period, ruining the Jimmies season opener, 30-29. The non-conference game was played out before a good-sized crowd at Jerry Cook Court Thursday night (11.5.26). “It was a tough game,” related Jimtown coach Shaunte Williams, “but we’ll learn from it and get better.” There were a few uncomfortable issues with Jimtown: ● The Jimmies were quite ineffective at the free-throw line, hitting only five of 16. Just two more would have changed the outcome. ● They didn’t hit a single three-point shot, while PH nailed three. ● The Panthers’ aggressiveness caused them to commit 17 turnovers. “Their length and physicality bothered us more than any particular defense,” Williams related by text-message. “We struggled with foul trouble and never really found our shooting rhythm. But we didn’t quit and won’t quit. We answered their runs and had a shot to tie it at the end.” The Panthers led by six after one quarter and by five at several spots, but the Jimmies kept fighting back. After getting behind, 25-20, in the final period, the Jimmies came back with a pair of layins by Kamryn Williams (no relation to the coach), one on a nice rebound put-back. The Girls of Baugo fell behind again, 30-25, with 28 seconds left, but rallied with a basket by Kiki Jackson and a rebound-basket by McKenzie Verhoeve, just ahead of the final buzzer. But they counted only one free-toss conversion in five shots in the final three minutes. “I liked when we looked to push the ball in transition and our post presence inside,” Williams remarked. “I’m proud of our players for their fight until the end. “Credit to Prairie Heights. They were aggressive on both ends of the floor and took away what we wanted to do.” Kamryn Williams led the Jimmies with 10 points, matched by the Panthers’ Bailee Godsey, who had a pair of treys. The Jimmies will have little time to recover from the loss, for they head to Argos for a contest tonight (11.6.26). Score by quarters: Prairie Hts 10 5 6 9 30 Jimtown 4 10 4 11 29 Officials: Dave Wolford, Mark Havard, Greg Humeston.