Panthers fall to St. Pius

The first state tournament appearance in nearly 10 years for the Ridgeland Panthers basketball team ended in less than two hours on Friday.

In Atlanta to face No. 6-ranked St. Pius X, the Black-and-White got hit by a barrage of 3-pointers by the Golden Lions, who coasted into the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs with an 81-50 win.

St. Pius (21-7) hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 24-12 lead and added four more from long range in the second quarter to grab a 43-21 lead at the break. The Golden Lions used a 13-0 run to end the half.

“Honestly, it was 3021 and if we had made some lay-ups and free throws, we might have kept it around a 10-point game by halftime instead of the 22-point game that it turned out to be,” Ridgeland head coach Matt King explained.

St. Pius added three more threes in the third quarter and tacked on three more in the fourth to finish the game with 14 as a team.

Everett Lane and Christian Mattei had four triples each. Lane led the Golden Lions with 20 points, while Mattei was next with 14.

C.J. Shackleford and Fred Norman had 12 points each for Ridgeland (10-18), while Markeion Jones went for nine. The Panthers finished with six made 3-pointers.

St. Pius will host Mary Persons in the second round.