Peyton flips switch in 2nd quarter

PEYTON • Peyton guard Taylor Bond was bloodied, but she and the Panthers were the ones delivering all the blows Friday night.

Bond led the way with 15 points, as Peyton (7-1) scored 21 straight points and forced more than 30 turnovers in a 63-41 win over visiting Evangelical Christian Academy (6-3).

Bond, a senior, was glad to get this monkey off her back.

“(ECA) has beaten us every year I’ve been here. It felt good to go out there and kind of stick it to them tonight,” said Bond after the game as she dealt with a bloody nose. “This is my favorite win, I think ever.”

The Panthers trailed 20-12 midway through the second quarter before they flipped gears and scored 12 straight points to close the half.

“It happened fast,” Peyton coach Tony Goodman said.

With 5 minutes remaining, Peyton was flat and frustrated, as Panthers guard Vaden Holmes even barked at the ref after a controversial travel call voided her acrobatic layup between two defenders.

But after a timeout with 3:10 left in the second, Peyton got hot. And in the final minute and change, Vanessa Aragon scored five straight points, before Bond nailed a 3 to close the half up 24-20.

“They were on edge at the beginning,” Goodman said. “We told them to play quick but not in a hurry – and they responded.”

And then some.

In the third, Peyton didn’t cool off as Bond scored the first eight points in the quarter en route to a 31-20 lead by the 6-minute mark of the third.

“We didn’t do a good job of handling their press,” ECA coach Bruce Beers said. “We’ve got to be a little more composed and handle the press better.”

As for a silver lining for the visiting team, Eagles center Tori Mann scored 18 points before she fouled out with 3:30 remaining.

But besides that, no ECA player hit more than one field goal in any quarter.

“I think we did great shutting them down,” Goodman said. “Our trademark has been our pressure defense and I think we worked it to perfection in that second half.”

Bond, still giddy about the win, said this win should show the rest of 3A something.

“I think the last couple years we’ve been overlooked,” she said. “This year it is all coming together, and I think we have a shot at state. We have a lot of drive to get there.”

And on Friday, it showed.