A big fourth quarter helped the Hershey Lady Panthers pull away from Lexington in their 63-49 win on Monday in the first round of the Greg Miller Memorial Holiday Tournament in Hershey.

On Tuesday, Hershey (5-2) will play Red Cloud (6-0) for the championship at noon on Tuesday.

Against Lexington (2-5), the Panthers fell behind 11-6 after Josslyn Mins got a three-point play to follow a Nyekuola Gai three-pointer. The Minutemaids from Dawson County remained ahead the rest of the first half, holding a 28-26 lead at the break.

“Give Lexington credit. They did a good job,” Hershey Head Coach Alex Lowther said. “We were forcing some things in the first half and we were turning the ball over and giving them extra possessions. Lexington executed offensively and made some shots.”

Lexi Pinkerton got a backdoor layup to tie the game for Hershey before Emmersyn Lawless made a three to put Lexington back ahead. But the Panthers scored the next five points to go back on top.

Both teams battled before Kamryn Butterfield scored on a putback to give Hershey a 42-40 lead late in the third quarter. Demi DaMoude followed with a fadeaway from 10 feet to give the Panthers a four point lead with 26 left in the third.

“We were more patient offensively and we moved the ball by cutting to the basket,” Lowther said. “We knew we could get into the lane and cause some issues by dumping it into Kamryn and getting into the lane for buckets. We did that a lot better in the second half and we built up a pretty good lead.”

Lawless scored the first two points of the fourth quarter but Butterfield answered on the other end and Bringewatt hit a three to make it 49-42.

Gai scored the next point from the free throw line but Hershey continued to roll as Ryleigh Melvin nailed a jump shot just inside the three-point arc and DaMoude connected on another fadeaway in the low block that put the Panthers up by 10.

Lawless scored the next basket but Hershey followed with the next six to put the Minutemaids away.

“The girls did a good job of cutting off each other finding the open girl in the lane,” Lowther said.

Score by quarters:

Lexington: 13-15-14-9 – 49

Hershey: 10-16-18-19 – 63

Lexington (49)-Sydney Reutlinger-Maravilla 3, Josslyn Mins 20, Maylin Novoa 8, Emmersyn Lawless 12, Nyekuola Gai 4, Greta Rickertsen 2

Hershey (63)-Lexi Pinkerton 6, Kyra Hacker 4, Demi DaMoude 18, Kenna Bringewatt 11, Ryleigh Melvin 4, Kamryn Butterfield 20

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