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WEDNESDAY, FEB. 5, 2025
Lady Panthers win back-to-back games By Trenten Scheidegger CORRESPONDENT
SUBMITTED PHOTO Rock Valley Publishing
2025 Pearl City Spelling Bee
Pearl City Junior High and Elementary schools held their annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, Jan. 30. Pictured is elementary winner, Keziah Parsons-Sierra.
The 2024-2025 Lena-Winslow Panthers have had about as streaky of an Illinois High School girls basketball season as you could imagine. After 27 games played, the Panthers are yet to win more than two consecutive games at a time. On the other hand, they also haven’t lost more than three consecutive games at a time. The Panthers found themselves in the upswing of things when they closed out the month of January with matchups against Forreston and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy, last week. Le-Win was fresh off a tough 56-35 loss to Orangeville just days before playing host to the Forreston Cardinals. While Le-Win was 10-15 overall, Forreston was just 3-17 themselves. It didn’t take long for the Panthers to run away with this one. By the end of the first quarter, Le-Win already held a double-digit advantage over Forreston. Sophie Johnston caught fire from deep as a trio of first quarter three-pointers helped her put up a quick ten points. Aubrey Rodebaugh added six first quarter points of her own. The Panthers continued to find success from deep in the second quarter. Ava Vlasin hit not one, but two three-pointers, as Le-Win
had combined for six first half threes. Forreston didn’t hit a single three-point shot in the first half, which led to an 18-point differential just from three-point territory. Le-Win was up 34-16 at the half, but their kept their foot on the pedal as they continued to push things out of reach. In the end, the Panthers picked up a massive 61-41 win over Forreston. Rodebaugh and Johnston combined for 30 points in the win as they each finished with 15. Twelve of Johnston’s 15 points came from three-point land. Lila Grindey added eleven. Rachael Setterstrom had eight in the victory. The Panthers were back in action on their home court just 24 hours later. On Jan. 31 they played host to the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy Guardians. OLSHA came to Lena with an overall record of 7-6. By the time they left the Panther den, the Guardians were no longer above 500 for the year. Le-Win dominated this one from start to finish as they picked up another blowout victory. The Panthers even went scoreless in the fourth quarter, and they still won by thirty points. It was the duo of Rodebaugh and Vlasin that helped get the Panthers going. They scored all of Le-Win’s first quarter points with Rode-
baugh leading the way with eight. That wasn’t a bad thing for the Panthers, who took a 15-5 lead into the second quarter. It was Setterstrom who helped to expand that lead in the second. Setterstrom had eight points thanks to four field goals in the quarter. By the halftime break, Le-Win had already jumped out to a 35-13 lead over OLSHA. The Guardians would score just seven points in all of the second half. Le-Win would score 15 points in just the third quarter alone. That gave the Panthers a massive 50-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Le-Win coasted their way to victory, not scoring a single point in the final quarter, and winning by a score of 50-20. Rodebaugh led the way in scoring with 14 points. Vlasin was next up with 12. Le-Win had three players finish in double figures as Setterstrom added ten in the win. The Panthers improved to 12-15 on the year with the win. On Feb. 7, Le-Win plays host to the Pearl City Wolves in what should be an exciting matchup. Pearl City has 10 wins on the season, one of which was a 50-44 victory over Le-Win. The Panthers will be the home team for their second meeting. The Panthers are 5-2 at home this year.
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