The Jackson County Panthers continue to look for traction in region play after dropping games last week to Archer and Oconee County.
Their next shot to get their season on track comes on Friday when they travel to Hart County to face the Bulldogs, who enter play this week 3-2 in the region and 12-3 overall.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.
Archer
The Panthers started out their week by playing host to Archer on Tuesday. Jackson County fell behind in the first quarter but worked hard to stay within striking distance as Archer led 12-10 at the end of the quarter. The Tigers added another 20 points to their tally while Jackson County scored 15 in the second quarter to make it a 32-25 game at the half.
The game remained close in the third quarter. While the Tigers added 12 points to their total, the Panthers added 11 to theirs to stay within eight points, 44-36. But in the fourth quarter, Archer broke loose, scoring 18 points while the Panthers scored 13, giving Archer the 62-49 victory.
Juice Harrison and Nick Oney led in scoring for the Panthers with 11 points each. Joseph Smith and Jarvis Shaw scored eight each. Jonathan Holton scored six points.
“We played a much better game tonight,” said coach Britt Beaver. “We executed our offense very well. Unfortunately we couldn’t get our shots to fall. Our defense was not as solid as it has to be and we did not rebound well. If we pull down a couple more rebounds and hit a couple shots then we are right there. Archer was able to pull the ball out with a six-point lead and we had to foul and put them on the
line. They shot the ball extremely well.”
“We improved tonight,” Beaver added. “We have to hang in there, continue to work hard and improve and I believe good things will happen for us.”
Oconee County
The Panthers next played host to the Warriors of Oconee County, who entered play winless in the region.
Despite a strong effort, Jackson County came up short against the Warriors, who won 52-40.
Juice Harrison led Jackson County in scoring with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Joseph Smith scored seven points. Jonathan Holton scored six points.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
