Panthers rally for win in double OT

ROCKFORD - An incredible three-point shot at the end of regulation by Parkway's Sydney Crouch sparked the Panthers to a 54-48 double overtime victory over New Knoxville Thursday night in Rockford, snapping the Panthers' 27-game MAC losing streak.

With just five seconds left in regulation and trailing 40-37, the Panthers needed to come the length of the floor. Double-teamed, Crouch got the ball in front of her own bench. She appeared to lose control for a second, but spun around with two hands in her face and flung up a shot at the buzzer that found the bottom of the net.

The shot capped off a clutch fourth quarter for Crouch, who single-handedly kept her team in the game down the stretch. She scored 11 points in the final eight minutes including three treys in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the game.

"We wanted to try and get her (Crouch) the ball if we could, and it was an awesome shot," Parkway coach Linda Hawk said. "She hasn't been shooting well this season. Her percentage is not where we need it to be, but tonight she came through and was somehow able to hit that shot."

The Panthers scored first in overtime with an inside shot by Haley Hawk. Two possessions later, Megan Jurosic tied up the game for the Rangers.

Following a Parkway turnover, New Knoxville spread the floor against the Panthers' 2-3 zone. After milking more than a minute off the clock, a running jumper by Erin Scott failed to connect, sending the game into double overtime.

An old fashioned three-point play by Crouch gave the Panthers a 47-44 leaded with 2:22 left. Scott answered with a basket at the other end, but Parkway went on a 5-0 run in the span of 50 seconds to take a 52-46 lead.

New Knoxville was 0-for-4 from behind the arc in the final overtime. With the Rangers unable to come up with the big shot, Parkway put away the game at the free throw line.

Outside shooting was an issue all night for New Knoxville, which shot 31 percent from the floor, including 2-for-20 from three-point range.

Parkway jumped out to a 9-0 lead before a Tayler Doty bucket was able to get the Rangers on the scoreboard with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

Parkway maintained a nine-point lead for much of the second quarter; however, the Rangers were able to grab some momentum by scoring the last six points of the first half to trail 19-14 at intermission.

New Knoxville cut the deficit to one, 24-23 midway through the third quarter, but the Panthers managed to hold onto a 27-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

While her offense struggled at times, coach Hawk praised her team's aggressive 2-3 zone that seemed to give the Rangers fits all night.

"Our defense has kept us in some games this year, and that was the case tonight," coach Hawk said. "We've got some work to do on offense, but once our outside shooting picks up a little bit, we will start to gel."

Doty hit a three pointer at the 7:05 mark of the fourth quarter to give the Rangers their first lead of the game, 28-27.

The next time down the floor - with a one-point lead - New Knoxville went to a four-corner offense to force the Panthers out of their zone.

The strategy seemed to pay off as the Rangers were able to maintain a one-possession lead for most of the fourth quarter.

Crouch kept her team close with three-pointers on back-to-back possession with just over two minutes to play and then tacked on the game-tying shot at the end of regulation. She finished with 20 points to pace the winners. Hawk added 13.

Parkway's win was its first in the Midwest Athletic Conference since beating Delphos St. John's 34-31 on Dec. 11, 2014.

"It's been a while since we had a MAC win, so the girls are pretty excited," coach Hawk said. "We still have a lot of work to do with handling the pressure in game situations, but I was really proud of the girls tonight because they did not give up."

The Panthers, 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the MAC, is at home Saturday at 2 p.m. against Antwerp.

Scott finished with 20 points to pace the Rangers, who fall to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the MAC. New Knoxville hosts Spencerville on Monday.