On Friday night against the Cass Lady Colonels, the Southwest DeKalb Lady Panthers gave up more than 15 times the amount of points as they did in Round 1 of the 5A playoffs. Fortunately for them, they still won big in Round 2.
Led by four double-digit scorers, the Lady Panthers cruised to a 72-46 win at home to advance to the quarterfinals for the fourth time since 2016.
The No. 3 Lady Panthers (21-6), a No. 1 seed from Region 5, will now play top-ranked Woodward, a No. 1 seed from Region 3. A GHSA universal coin toss determined the bottom half of the bracket will be the home team in the case like seeds meet in the quarterfinals, meaning the Lady Panthers will host.
Though the Lady Panthers won by 26, the margin of victory paled in comparison to their playoff opener on Tuesday, when they beat Walnut Grove 77-3 — a score many thought was misreported. It is the fewest points allowed in a playoff game by a DeKalb County team, boys or girls, in recorded scores, according to DeKalb Schools.
The surge the Lady Panthers have shown thus far in the playoffs could be a sign of the team finding its rhythm after starting the season later than most of its competition. DeKalb Schools delayed the start of winter sports by a month.
“I think we’re getting better,” Lady Panthers coach Kathleen Richey-Walton said. “(During the season’s postponement) we weren’t able to practice, do 5-on-5...and that really slowed us up. So, hopefully we’re starting to catch up with the rest of the state.”
On Friday, they opened on a 12-2 run and led 18-10 after the first quarter. By halftime, the score was 42-17.
Though the Lady Colonels would open the second half on a 7-2 run, they were never able to build meaningful momentum and the Lady Panthers wound up outscoring them in the third quarter 21-19. The Lady Colonels outscored Southwest DeKalb 10-9 in the fourth quarter, but they never trailed by less than 20 points in the second half.
Southwest DeKalb’s Lauryn Bell led all scorers with 17 points, adding four rebounds and two assists. She was joined by teammates Adrieanna Brownlee (14 points, 14 rebounds), Prya Thompson (14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists) and Taylor Christmas (13 points, seven rebounds). Aniyah Lee chipped in nine rebounds and seven assists for the Lady Panthers.
For the No. 6 Lady Colonels, a No. 2 seed from Region 7, the season ends with two losses in their final three games to finish 25-2. Cass beat Grady 83-57 in the first round. The Colonels had been there before; they were a fourth seed in 2019 when they beat No. 1 seed Riverwood 63-57 in the first round.
They were led by Londaisha Smith’s 16 points.
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