By Mark Schafer | The News-Review
PACKWOOD – A new coach and a new era of Pekin girls basketball got started off on the right foot.
On Nov. 25, Pekin head coach Neil Hartz made his debut at Pekin, as he helped guide the Panthers to a 53-28 victory over Winfield-Mt. Union in their first game of the season.
As if the 35-point victory wasn’t impressive enough, the Panther defense didn’t allow the Wolves to score a basket until the second quarter. The Panthers led 11-0 after the first quarter of the new season.
Offense continued to build for the Panthers throughout the second quarter as they scored 18 more points. Winfield-Mt. Union was able to score seven points, but by then, the Panthers had already established a strong lead.
Pekin continued to push the pace as they scored 15 more points in the third quarter. The Wolves were limited to just nine points.
Pekin finished with just nine points in the final frame. Although Winfield-Mt. Union scored 12 points, the game had already been decided.
Senior Abby Guise was able to lead the team in points as she finished with 16 total points. she added eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Anna Hadley added another 12 points. She finished with seven rebounds, four steals and two assists. Maddy Petrehn finished with five points. She also had five steals and three rebounds, all of them on offense.
Carlie Gambell added four points. Another four points came from freshman Mya Glick.
Sophomore Taylor Moore finished with six points and six rebounds. Ezra Parsons had three points and three total rebounds. Addison Smith had three points in the game as well.
The Panthers returned to the court on Tuesday when they played Wapello. Friday the Panthers will be on the road again as they play WACO.  Â
