The Fillies traveled to Jacksonville, Texas and faced region foe Kilgore College, Wednesday night.
After being voted 10th out of 11 teams in the preseason, the Fillies finished at the 3rd spot for the regular season, placing them against the 6th seed. Their incredible journey came to an end last night as they fell 74-77 to the Rangers of Kilgore College in the first round of the region tournament. "The numbers don't show how hard we worked tonight" stated Head Coach Eddie Kite. He added "we fought back and played our hearts out, and I couldn't be more proud of this team".
Panola fought in the first quarter to take a lead of 13-11. But a big second quarter by Kilgore's athletes would put them up 5 heading into half time. In a grueling match up, the Fillies still had some fight left and were able to leave it all on the floor.
In the second half, The Fillies proved why they were a force to be reckoned with. With only 1 minute ticking off the clock, the Fillies would take the lead up 40-39. The game would flow back and forth until Kilgore was able to pull away at the end of the third up 49-56.
In the final stanza of the night, the battle continued and Panola would find themselves down by as much as 11. But with heart and grit, they still found a way to get within 1 at 1:07 left in the game. Then a quick drive by Freshman Patience Okpe would tie the game up at 74 apiece. A few foul calls later, the Rangers went to the line and were able to pull off the win.
Sophomore Charlynn Perry came off the bench and led the Fillies with 18 points. Patience Okpe added 15 points and Sophomore Genesis Rivera put up 11 points and 7 rebounds. Freshman Daria Eremeeva pulled a new career high with 12 rebounds on the night.
The Fillies represented six different countries this season: Belarus, Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, The United States and Venezuela. But in the end of their amazing 23-8 run, they were all #1PCFamily.