The Starr’s Mill Panthers took on Our Lady of Mercy’s boys in Fairburn on Tuesday night with two of their starters, Colin Elias and Paul Vogel, unavailable. Coach Brandon Hutchins got outstanding performances from some of his sophomores though and outlasted the Bobcats 69-66.

Starr’s Mill had a lead until eight seconds remained in the first half but Mercy’s Nnamdi Moh hit a three pointer to give the Bobcats a one point lead, which vanished when Starr’s Mill hit a three pointer of their own to lead 32-30 at the break. The two teams battled even tougher in the third quarter, exchanging leads and scoring a total of 38 points in the quarter. Matt Sweat gave the Panthers a lead with seven seconds left in the quarter and Jake Lethbridge hit a three to give the lead back to Mercy.

In the fourth quarter the baskets continued to pour in and each possession was fought over intensely. There were five lead changes in the final three minutes of the game but the Panthers emerged victorious with Andrew Davis hitting a shot for the lead with 11 seconds left.

“Our sophomores really stepped up tonight,” said Hutchins, crediting Justin Smith, Mike Buck and Hayden Barnes among others for playing really well. “We’ve lost a lot of close games recently and the guys showed a lot of heart in this win.”

Smith led the Panthers with 15 points, while Nnamdi Moh led the Bobcats with 23 points.

In the girls game, Starr’s Mill had a 25-6 lead at the half and won 51-33.

“Our post players executed very well and our guards did a good job of getting the ball to them,” said Coach Whitt Jones. The Lady Panthers started the season with a 1-5 record and are now 8-7 in games played in Georgia. They have now won three games in a row.

Starr’s Mill was led by 14 points from Marissa Ring.

login to post comments