A coach’s dream come true may actually be happening at the right time for Southside coach Matthews Williams.

The Lady Panthers coach had to enjoy what he saw Tuesday night as his team shot the ball well and played solid defense in Southside’s 72-49 win over the Dallas County High School Lady Hornets.

“We seem to be coming around,” Williams said after the Lady Panthers improved to 9-8 on the season. “We seem to be working together as a team since we ironed out a lot of our personal problems.”

All the problems Tuesday night belonged to the Lady Hornets, who struggled to keep up with the quick pace set early by Southside. The Lady Panthers opened the game with a 12-2 run and were never challenged.

In fact, Dallas County was never able to cut the deficit to less than 13 points after the first period.

The Lady Panthers showed they were ready for their upcoming area tournament with one of their best offensive performances of the season.

Already ahead 22-9, Southside stretched its lead even farther on Katricia Brown’s three-pointer from the right corner. The Lady Panthers’ cushion stretched to 20 when Kelsey Brown took the inbound pass from Kendra Marzette for an easy lay-up, then followed with a baseline 12-foot jumper to make it 35-15.

Dallas County tried to stay close as Whitley Mott’s three-pointer from the left corner cut the deficit to 37-18. Velencia King’s steal and running lay-up, and a Shaneeka Davis lay-up made it a 42-23 game at halftime.

Dallas County’s momentum, however, quickly disappeared in the third period. Kelsey Brown snagged an offensive rebound and hit the short jumper to stretch the Lady Panthers’ lead back to 46-24. Southside led 55-31 after the third period.

Southside will open area tournament play next Thursday versus Trinity at St. James.