The Cumberland Gap Lady Panthers continued their hot start to the season Thursday, Dec. 1st, running and gunning their way to an 88-47 win over visiting Thomas Walker.

Senior guard Whitney Vannoy scored ten of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Lady Panthers.

Both teams came out showing high intensity on defense and for a time it looked like the game would be a defensive struggle.

Lady Pioneer senior guard Tessa Garrett was able to dribble through or throw over the press early, but Thomas Walker was unable to capitalize on a few early scoring opportunities in their first game of the season.

Cumberland Gap led only 10-8 with under three minutes left in the first quarter, but seniors Sara Barnard, Brandie Combs and Vannoy really stepped up the pressure on defense turning three quick turnovers into points as the Lady Panthers ended the quarter on an 8-0 run.

The run continued in the second quarter. Senior Amy Seal hit two three-pointers from the wing in less than a minute as the Lady Panthers' lead ballooned to 20 points. When junior forward Jennifer Pace hit a buzzer beater from beyond half court to end the half, Cumberland Gap led 48-22. The hot shooting from outside continued in the second half as the Lady Panthers finished the game hitting an incredible 9-of-16 from beyond the arc. Coach Ron Vannoy said the nine three-pointers tied a school record.

"Anybody likes to see that shooting from long range," said Cumberland Gap coach Ron Vannoy. "Our student section got kind of excited, really got behind our girls and it just snowballed. Our shooters got to feeling good and the hoop got real big for us."

Seal finished with 13 points and went 3-for-5 from three-point range. Senior forward Kim England added 10 points and was 2-for-2 from behind the arc. Vannoy was 5-for-5 from inside the arc and 1-for-3 on three-pointers. Combs added eight points while Barnard, and sophomores Emily Ellison and Kelsey Dean added seven apiece. Pace and Tracey Shackelford added five each, while Jessica Weaver and Allison Martin both scored four.

Thomas Walker was led by Garrett's 15 points, 13 of which came from the free throw line.

"Tessa is a very good player and we knew that she was," Vannoy said. "We kept her busy bringing the ball up the court, running the floor and playing defense and I think she kind of got tired in the second half.

"We didn't plan on fouling her that much, but we're an aggressive team and our girls play hard," he said.

Vannoy added that depth and conditioning were keys to the Lady Panthers win.

"We knew Thomas Walker would run with us, and we also knew they weren't as deep," he said. "We've got some kids who have done well in cross country and we feel we can run with anyone that wants to run."

Other scorers for Thomas Walker were senior forward Ashton Clouse with seven points, junior forward Bonnie Good, 6, senior guard Kristy Brooking, 5, senior center Jessica Ayers and freshman center Tiffany Gibson with 4 apiece, senior forward Samantha Buttery with 3 and junior guard Amelia Bailey with 2.

"Hopefully this was a learning experience for us," said Thomas Walker coach Tony Daniels. "This was our first game and I think they've played about five - not to take anything away from them, they've got a great ball club."

Cumberland Gap improves to 5-1 on the season. Vannoy said the team benefitted from playing some close games in a holiday tournament at Gibbs. They beat Rutledge by two points and Carter by three points before losing to Reigh County in the finals. They also won a close game at Catholic.

"Playing those close games and winning really gave us confidence," he said.