The Stone Memorial Lady Panthers couldn’t find an answer for the Clarkrange Lady Buffaloes and Hall of Fame coach Lamar Rogers Tuesday night as Stone started the game slow, made a late rally, but came up short in a 50-31 loss.
“Coach Rogers is in the Hall of Fame for a reason, and he certainly outcoached me Tuesday night,” said Stone Coach Mike Buck. “He had his girls doing some things we didn’t adjust to and didn’t handle very well. That one’s on me.”
The loss drops Stone Memorial to 8-20 for the year, while Clarkrange improves to 19-9.
Clarkrange jumped out to an early lead, only to have Stone Memorial come right back. The Lady Panthers trailed 15-7 after the first period and 27-11 at halftime.
Kortney Headrick led Stone in scoring with seven points. Lily Hinch and Kailee Waldo had six points each. Rachel Houston scored three, while Adison Howard, Madison Lefebvre and Marley Bowers had two points each.
Addy Stowers led Clarkrange with 28 points in the win.
“We wanted to come in and see if we could handle whatever they threw at us,” Buck said. “One of the kids [Stowers] we just couldn’t keep her from making shots. We gave her way too much space and it was like we would lose her out there. I kept reminding the girls about the scouting report, and who people are and how to guard them. You can’t give a shooter that much space.”
Buck and the Lady Panthers must now prepare for visiting Livingston Academy on Feb. 10 for the final district game and regular-season game of the year. Tipoff will be at 6 p.m.
“We have a pretty neat situation where we have to travel to a good team to close out the year Friday and then have to come back and travel to another good team for the district tournament next week, with our season on the line,” said Buck. “You can kind of get a dress rehearsal as to what the district tournament may be like.
“I want to see us competing Friday, playing with focus, being coachable. I want to see all those things. Those things are decisions, so I hope we make a decision to go out and be tough, to go out and compete and to play in a way we can walk off the floor and be happy [with ourselves].”