Panthers off to 2-1 start following holiday tourney

A basketball team that won just three games all of last year is already approaching that win total in the opening stretch of the season.
The Jackson County boys’ team, which plays at Johnson Tuesday, is off to a 2-1 start after splitting a pair of games in its own Thanksgiving tournament over the weekend.
The Panthers — who opened the season with an 88-41 throttling of Oglethorpe County last Tuesday — beat Chestatee 68-55 Friday in the opening round of the Bankers’ Classic at Panther Indoor Stadium. Jackson County then fell to Stephens County 56-48 Saturday in the tournament finals.
“I felt the tourney was good for us,” sixth-year coach Chuck Butler said. “It provided a lot of situations for us that will help us this season.”
Butler said both opponents offered different challenges during the first week of the season.
“Versus Chestatee we were challenged to defend a great shooting team and then with Stephens we had to protect the goal and focus on rebounds,” he said. “Also, we were able to identify several areas we need to work on and we have seen a lot of bright spots here at the start of the season as well.”
For the rest of this story, see the Nov. 21 edition of The Jackson Herald.