Buckeye Local’s Samantha Ankrom drives down the court against Caldwell during the Panthers’ 49-37 loss Monday. Photo by Mike Hughes

CONNORVILLE–There wasn’t much to be happy about for Buckeye Local and the Panthers’ faithful Monday night in Connorville.

The Panthers suffered their first defeat of the season, falling 49-37 to visiting Caldwell (3-1).

Buckeye led briefly in the second quarter and stayed close throughout before being outscored 15-4 in the fourth quarter.

Buried in that total is this number–20, as in, the number of free throws Caldwell attempted in the fourth quarter alone.

Correct calls or not likely depends on which side of the gym the fans were sitting on, but Caldwell took 32 total free throw attempts and earned more in the fourth quarter than Buckeye took the entire game (16).

The Panthers faithful were vocal about the discrepancy, but neither that, nor the team’s first loss, the was the main cause for concern for head coach Bailey McBeth, his staff, players, and the fans in attendance.

Two Buckeye players had to be taken to the hospital–the second required a backboard and stretcher to be transported to the squad car and, in hindsight, similar precautionary measures could have been utilized for the first.

Junior Alyssa Dailey, already sporting a face mask because of a nose injury suffered against Shenandoah, was the first to go down. Senior Shayleigh Hornyak followed shortly thereafter. Hornyak’s injury came with 1:02 left in regulation and the visiting Redskins leading 49-37. When play finally resumed, both teams took the floor with a full complement of reserve players. The ball was in-bounded, and no one moved, nor made a sound, for 62 seconds.

Even without the harrowing waning moments in the fourth quarter, it was a rough night for Buckeye.

The Panthers briefly got untracked in the second quarter, coming from five down after one to take a 17-15 lead following a 7-0 run to start the second quarter.

But turnovers began to mount and Caldwell seemingly never allowed the home team to get into a rhythm offensively.

On the opposite end, the Redskins used the tandem of Katie Franklin and Breighlee Moracco to attack the basket off the dribble, either knifing through the defense for a lay-up or getting fouled in the process.

Franklin, who led all scorers with 20 points, finished 7-of-14 at the line, including 7-of-10 down the stretch in the fourth. Moracco backed her with 17 and often appeared the more dangerous of the two off the dribble.

Buckeye battled behind seniors Pam Kandrach and Brynn McKeever, with the former recording a double double with 12 boards to go with her team-high 16 points.

McKeever added 11, but team-wide, Buckeye struggled to convert shots that were falling in the first half.

The team scored just 14 points in the second half and more than half (8) came at the free-throw line.

A dejected Panthers’ team and coaching staff headed to the locker room post-game, more concerned with the condition of their teammates than the outcome.

Buckeye will get a chance to right the ship come Thursday when Toronto comes calling in Connorville before hitting the road for the first time Saturday with a trip to Shadyside to face the Lady Tigers.