During Tuesday night’s game against Calhoun, the Southside Panthers (3-0) wanted to enforce their tempo. Early on, the fast style of play led to silly mistakes.

Panthers head coach Cedric Brown told his team at halftime to slow it down a little, just so they could make sure to limit the turnovers. The adjustment worked as the Panthers dominated the second half on their way to a 77-50 victory.

“We were running 100 m.p.h. with no execution,” Brown said. “We wanted to slow it down a little bit and get some production out of it.”

Kentavius Page led the second half surge with 10 of his 16 points in the latter half and Lee Underwood scored another 18 for the Panthers.  Southside’s 33-21 halftime lead quickly ballooned to 30 late in the third quarter after two free throws from Charles Price, who had 10 points and a couple of blocks.

Twelve different players scored for the Panthers in the game as Southside got off to its first 3-0 start since making the state championship game in 2012-2013.

“Each and every day these guys give me everything they have, from one to 14 they give it to me,” Brown said. “We need contributions from everybody. If it wasn’t a layup or free throw, it was a box out or close out. In some form or fashion, they contributed.”

Page had three consecutive layups in the third quarter to help Southside up its lead to 44-22. Throughout the quarter, the Panthers seemed to be able to get to the rim. Even when they didn’t, they made plenty of 3-pointers.

De’Quan Johnson, Keshawn Arrington and Price each knocked down a three, while Underwood added two 3-pointers.

It was the second time in a week Southside had defeated Calhoun. Southside won the opener by 21, and led by that margin most of the second half on Tuesday night too.

Southside will host Dallas County (1-0) Friday in its next game.

 

Calhoun 53, Southside 42 (Girls)

In only a week’s time, the Southside Panthers have already shown a large improvement.

The Panthers lost to Calhoun 53-42 on Tuesday night, the second time in a week they fallen to the Tigers. However, this time Southside was down only two at halftime and had a chance in the second half.

“They have gotten so much better since the first game,” said Southside coach Kayla Mason. “We had a little dip in our second one but to see from the first game to now is a large improvement.”

The game was tied 26-26 midway through the third quarter when Calhoun went on a 13-0 run that put it away.

Christina Walls had 16 points to lead Southside. Sharita Benjamin added 12 and Kionah Page scored 10 for the Panthers.