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The Lady Panther Varsity team continues to roll through the playoffs and made school history as the first basketball team to advance to the Regional Semifinals with their 55-50 win over Langham Creek Monday. They will now play Desoto on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in Lukin at the Panther Activity Center for the opportunity to go to Finals which will follow on Saturday against the winner of Cy Ranch and Cedar Park.

“This is an amazing feeling for not only this program but for our school as well. The support from admin, teachers, other programs and just the community has been special,” Coach Rogers said. “Yes, we just keep finding a way to get it done. We’re really playing with a chip on our shoulder, and we have been all season. We feel that we under accomplished last season and came into this year playing like it.”

Against Langham Cy Springs jumped out to quick lead in the first quarter and kept pushing in the second for a 12-point lead at the half. Leading 31-19 the Lady Panthers were feeling confident, but the Lobos surged in third quarter to take the lead. They kept mounting their attack and at the end of the third Langham had a 44-37 lead. The Lady Panthers kept clawing in the fourth quarter and with 2:40 left on the clock the game was tied 50-50. Led by Ayla McDowell’s hustle on defense and offensive as well key free throws by Zamari Reece, Cy Springs pulled out the win.

“What made the difference was realizing that we could not lose, we went hard and kept the energy up,” Melanie Hodges said.

McDowell scored 27 points while pulling down 11 defensive boards and three steals against Langham. Reece and Di’Aunestie Henderson added eight points each. The game marked the second win in four days for Cy Springs. The ladies won the Area Championship on Friday with a 64-31 victory over Oak Ridge. They dominated from start to finish with three players scoring in double digits. McDowell had 24 points while Henderson and Hodges collected 10 each.

The Lady Panthers extended their winning streak to 14 and enter the Desoto game with a 31-8 record and averaging 50.4 points. Desoto advanced by beating Lake Ridge 65-49 and enters the game with a 25-5 record while averaging 62.3 points.