Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Austintown Fitch senior Samantha Severn drives and scores on a fast-break situation during the first half against Perry. She tied the team-high in scoring with 12 during a 55-47 loss to the Panthers at South Range on Friday.

BEAVER TOWNSHIP — For much of the afternoon, both Massillon Perry and Austintown Fitch looked the part of two fairly evenly matched squads. Slim margins on the scoreboard were the story until the Panthers netted just a few more clutch second-half shots than the Falcons.

Perry (7-3) earned a 55-47 victory over Austintown Fitch (6-3), snapping the Falcons’ four-game winning streak. The matchup was just one piece of South Range’s holiday tournament slate, a day-two affair that featured 16 teams. Fitch will face off against Saint Vincent-Saint Mary this evening at 7 p.m. to cap off its twinbill in North Lima.

“There was a strange type of flow to the game today. We played really good basketball at certain times today, and where we struggled was in the execution at halfcourt,” Falcons coach Dan Horacek said. “Unfortunately tonight, we didn’t have a big enough lead where it sort of cost us at the end. It’s just a day-by-day gradual process. (Thursday) was the best practice we had all year, we just couldn’t bring it over to the game today. We just need to keep having great practices and it’ll eventually come.”

Fitch held its biggest lead of the contest midway through the second quarter at 26-19, following a bucket in the lane by senior Samantha Severn, who attacked the basket early along with fellow senior Elizabeth Spalding.

Both tied the team high with 12 points each, earning a vast majority of their points in the paint. While the Falcons offense was based more on driving to the hoop, Perry created space at times, leading to some 3-pointers to keep the contest within reach.

The Panthers landed five threes while Fitch had zero, which opened up opportunities for Lila Kleve to cause havoc inside the lane herself. The junior tallied a game-high 20 for the Panthers, who was complemented by senior Riley Minor’s 17 points.

After trailing through much of the first three quarters, a buzzer beater floater from Perry sophomore Alivia Randulic gave her team a 38-37 edge heading into the final eight minutes of play. Moments later, down 40-37, the Falcons rattled off an 8-0 run by way of four different Fitch players to build a 45-40 advantage.

However, Perry replied with a 9-0 run, while fending off an Austintown press on defense.

“It’s the zone, (Perry) moved the ball really good, made the extra passes and got some open shots, and they were able to knock them down. A predominantly zone and trapping team, Perry is a good basketball team.” Horacek said.

Senior Rachel Spalding added 10 points, with juniors Kaelyn Bower (seven points) and Amyia Harris (six points) rounding out scoring for Austintown.

“I’m so proud of this basketball team, one game doesn’t define your season. I tell the kids all the time, we have everything in front of us still to play for. It just didn’t go our way tonight.” Horacek said.