Blairsville, Georgia- The Union County Lady Panthers host the Elbert County Blue Devils in a region matchup. This was the last home game for the Panthers after a shortened season due to COVID-19 issues. The Lady Panthers are looking for their first region win of the season.

First Quarter

Elbert County got things started for both teams with a 3 pointer to go up 3-0 early after a slow start. Freshman Lara Turner responded quickly with a layup. The Lady Panthers took an early 1 point lead as Junior Ava Hunter made 2/2 free throws. The Blue Devils had a very slow start due to turnovers, which is not the way they usually play. The Blue Devils tied the game after a long period of turnovers for both teams. Things became very sloppy but each team kept scoring some as the game was tied 9-9 through most of the last 2 minutes of the quarter. The Lady Panthers trailed 11-9 to end the 1st quarter.

Second Quarter

Hunter tied things up to begin the second quarter as she scored on a fast break layup. Junior Rebekah Chambers gave the Lady Panthers the lead after she made a nice move in the paint and scored. The Blue Devils tied things up but Hunter backed her way into the paint and scored to retake the lead. Sophomore Ellie Cook got fouled, made the layup, and made the following free throw to take a 5 point lead. Things got sloppy again for both teams but the Blue Devils were able to cut the lead to 1, forcing a Lady Panther timeout. The Blue Devils took the lead after two steals that led to a 3 point lead, forcing the Lady Panthers to use another timeout. Turner cut the deficit to 2 as she scored on a nice inbound play. The Blue Devils responded and extended their lead back to 4. After a big Hunter block, the Lady Panthers cut the deficit back to 2, but he Blue Devils ended the half on a 4-0 run as they led 28-22.

Third Quarter

The Lady Panthers started the second half on 2 made free throws by Sophomore Corinne Hill. The Blue Devils scored off a Panther turnover as their lead was extended back to 6. The Lady Panthers became sloppy on offense as the Blue Devis extended their lead to 11. Tuner made a nice baseline jumper to cut the deficit to 9. The Blue Devil offense was starting to heat up as the Lady Panthers turnovers were piling up. The Blue Devils quickly extended their lead to 15. The Blue Devils maintained their lead as they led 44-29 to end the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Right out of the gate, Cook threw a great pass to Chambers as she cut the deficit to 13. Hunter scored as the deficit was cut to 11. After 3 Panther turnovers, the Blue Devils extended their lead to 16. The Lady Panthers were unable to stop the red hot Blue Devil offense, as they capitalized on a lot of the Panther turnovers. The Blue Devils extended their lead to 20 as the Panthers just couldn’t gain a rhythm on offense due to the turnovers. The Lady Panthers fall to the Blue Devils 60-35 as they fall to 2-9 on the season. The Lady Panthers will travel to Rabun County for the last regular season game of the year.