The Apopka girls basketball team couldn’t overcome a hot-shooting Dr. Phillips squad on senior night, falling 47-30. 

The Blue Darters honored seniors Abigail Henry and Elyse Pringle before tipoff, but once the game began, Dr. Phillips controlled the tempo early behind efficient perimeter shooting. The Panthers struck first with a layup inside, before Apopka answered with a strong post finish from Amari Dillon and a wing 3 from Destiny Gelin off a pass from Deriyon Brinson. 

After a slow offensive stretch from both teams, Dr. Phillips found its rhythm from beyond the arc. The Panthers drilled three straight corner 3-pointers to take control, forcing Apopka into a timeout trailing 11-5. A fourth 3 followed, but Pringle responded just before the buzzer, burying a pullup jump shot to end the first quarter down 14-7. 

Dr. Phillips continued its run into the second quarter, opening with another 3 and a free throw before Peyton Giguere connected on her fourth 3-pointer of the half. Apopka struggled to generate offense against the Panthers’ pressure defense and went scoreless in the quarter, heading into halftime trailing 25-7. 

The Blue Darters showed more fight coming out of the locker room. Henry grabbed two offensive rebounds and earned a trip to the free-throw line, and Pringle again found Gelin on the wing for another 3. Dr. Phillips answered back with a trey of its own, but Pringle countered with a long jumper with her foot on the line. 

Apopka was able to score consistently in the third quarter, but the Panthers continued to match them bucket for bucket. By the end of the period, Dr. Phillips maintained control with a 36-18 lead. 

The fourth quarter opened with a short jumper from Mikayla Wiggins and a strong finish inside by Gelin. Dr. Phillips responded with more inside scoring from Ariel Edri, who persevered through an early injury scare and reached 17 points on the night. Dillon provided a late spark for Apopka, scoring five straight points by finishing through contact twice and adding a free throw. 

With two minutes left, Dr. Phillips broke the press for two more points, then Brinson knocked down a 3-pointer, but the Panthers closed out the final minute to secure the 47-30 win. 

Giguere and Edri combined for 35 points to lead Dr. Phillips.  

For Apopka, Pringle finished with eight points, two assists and two steals, while Dillon added nine points, seven rebounds and a block. 

After the game, head coach Brittany Hardy reflected on Senior Night and her departing players. 

“I’ll miss my seniors,” Hardy said. “I had one of them for three years, and I had the other for four years. It’s just hard that their senior night game had to go like this. But we just got to get in the gym and get better.” 

With three games remaining in the season, Hardy emphasized consistency and effort as the key to finishing strong. 

“They got to come out and play hard these last games,” Hardy said. “I’m continuing to say if they do what we do in practice, it will come onto the court. As of right now, they’re on their own journey.”