Panthers get back on track with blowout win vs. Liberty Center

Lucy Porter / Pride of the Panthers

By JEREMY SCHNEIDER

IMA SPORTS

It’s been an up-and-down start to 2025 for the Maumee girls basketball team. Entering last Thursday’s game at Oak Harbor, the Panthers had won two of their five games, with two of the losses coming to Genoa.

So when Maumee gave up a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost in overtime to the Rockets, 60-55, it wasn’t just a fourth loss in six games. The Panthers could have been teetering on the edge of a doomed season.

Instead, Maumee came out two days later and punished visiting Liberty Center, opening up a 20-point halftime lead en route to a 61-36 win.

“This team is resilient, they’re going to fight every single game,” Soler said. “They were hurt, but they bounced back really easily. We had a good practice (on Friday).

“That Oak Harbor team is a really good team. We know we could have played better, but we gave it our all. It was good to get this bounce-back win.”

The win moved Maumee to 10-6 overall, their second straight season with double-digit wins. The Panthers are also 7-4 in the Northern Buckeye Conference, sitting in third, behind Genoa and Oak Harbor.

Maumee was on a mission against Liberty Center, leading 31-11 at halftime. The Panthers shot 54 percent from the floor, including 37 percent from 3-point range (7-of-19). They forced 27 turnovers, scoring 27 points off of them.

Lucy Porter had 23 points to lead all scorers, making two 3-pointers and 9-of-12 from the field. She also had four rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Taylor Smith scored 11 points with two 3s, adding a team-high seven assists and four steals. Taryn Pyle also hit two 3s, finishing with nine points.

“We were locked in from the beginning today,” Soler said. “We were doing things that we’ve been preaching the entire year and we have seen everybody do it. It seemed like it was a team buy-in from the beginning.”

The Panthers also had a great start two nights prior at Oak Harbor, leading 25-22 at halftime and 42-28 after three quarters. However, the Rockets opened the fourth on a 7-0 run and closed regulation with a 5-1 burst, out-scoring Maumee 23-9 in the quarter and tying the game at 51-51.

Porter had 18 points and 12 boards to lead Maumee, with five steals and three assists.

Reign Hurt added 14 points, and Smith had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. Charley Bischoff had 10 points and five boards.

The Panthers are rounding into the home stretch of their regular season with three more NBC games to play, all at home — Eastwood on January 30, Rossford on February 3, and Lake on Feb. 6.

The OHSAA tournament draw for girls basketball is this Sunday, Feb. 2. The Panthers are currently third in the Division III, Northwest District 1 ratings.

Photo courtesy of Pride of the Panthers

Reach IMA at insidemaumeeathletics@gmail.com