The Pioneer Panthers's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Tuesday after their fourth straight loss. They were the victim of a tough 52-29 defeat at the hands of Winamac. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat Pioneer has suffered against Winamac since January 23, 2018.
Pioneer lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being Makenna Strycker, who scored 13 points along with seven rebounds and three steals. That was a full 44.8% of Pioneer's points, marking the sixth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Mia McKaig, who scored ten points along with two steals.
Pioneer struggled to work together and finished the game with only four assists. They were crushed by their opponents in that department as Winamac racked up 14 assists.
Winamac got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Marissa Iverson out in front who scored 16 points along with eight rebounds. Iverson is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as she's now pulled down eight or more in the last three games she's played. Another player making a difference was Sadie Popejoy, who scored 13 points along with two steals.
Pioneer has traveled a rocky road recently, as they've lost six of their last seven games, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-14 record this season. As for Winamac, their win ended a three-game drought at home and bumped them up to 12-8.
Pioneer won't have much time to rest: their next match is against North Judson-San Pierre on January 24th. Hopefully North Judson-San Pierre focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 24 last Saturday. As for Winamac, they will head out on the road to face off against Twin Lakes at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. Twin Lakes is out to stop a three-game streak of losses at home.
