After a sluggish start, Matthews Williams’ Lady Panthers turned up the defense and turned away Central Coosa 63-50 to take the 4A, Area 6 Tournament Title Friday at home.

With a balanced attack, four Lady Panthers were in double figures, Southside earned the right to host the Sub-Regional next Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Andreaka Williams led the Lady Panthers balanced attack with 15 points.

Kendra Marzette and Makeisha Towns added 14 each and Kimberly Broadnax had 11 before fouling out.

Tiffany Anderson added seven points for Southside.

One thing that helped spread out the defense was the long-range shooting of Marzette.

The Panthers’ guard hit a quartet of 3-pointers to make Central Coosa come out and defend behind the arc.

When Coosa reacted to Marzette’s bombing, it opened up the middle for Broadnax who scored 10 of her 11 in the second half.

Towns was also able to take advantage on the inside.

Trailing 15-9 after the first quarter, the Lady Panthers fought back in the second.

Southside scored 20 points in the second quarter and held Central to just four.

Leading 29-19 at the break, the Lady Panthers withstood a few Central charges but repelled each one with timely buckets.

The win hands the Lady Panthers the Area Tournament trophy to go with the regular season and they get to host the next round of the playoffs Thursday night.