Carlisle proved to be too much as the Wildcats ran away from Knoxville 58-28 in a 1st round class 4A regional girls basketball game on Wednesday, heard live on 95.3 KNIA. The Panthers were able to handle the Carlisle press for the 1st quarter but the Wildcats kept up the pressure and broke open the game in the 3rd quarter. Panthers Coach Matt Ritchhart told KNIA/KRLS Sports the difference was Carlisle was more aggressive and it wore on his players.

Ritchhart: “For a quarter we handled it pretty well, and this is a whole different athlete at this level. You can’t replicate it and it just physically and mentaly wears you down and it snowballed from the first quarter.”

Poor shooting also was a factor as Knoxville shot just 21% from the field and were dominated on the boards. The Panthers lose just one senior in Charlee Heffron, but return nearly 90% of their scoring for next season from a 10-12 campaign this year.