It was another tough week for the Panthers of Jackson County, as they recorded two losses, first to Stephens County on Tuesday, then to West Hall on Friday.
Now the Panthers look ahead to Dec. 29, and the chance to play host to the Jingle Jam tournament with Commerce, Providence and Hebron Christian taking part.
Jackson County will hit the court at 7:30 p.m. against Hebron to start the tournament off. The rest of the schedule will be determined by Monday’s results.
Last week started with a roughing up by the Stephens County Indians in their third region game of the year. The Panthers had hoped to be on even footing with the Indians, who entered the game winless. But instead,
Stephens found their first win, a 51-34 victory over Jackson County.
Next up was another home stand, this time against the Spartans of West Hall, who are currently the fifth ranked team in AAA with a 10-0 record.
The Panthers were hoping for some revenge over their season opening loss to the Spartans, and came out swinging from the beginning, despite playing without starting center Juice Harrison, who was sidelined with an ACL injury.
The Panthers came back from an early deficit to tie the game 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, and Jackson County moved ahead to take the lead early in the second quarter. While West Hall moved back out front, the
Panthers stayed close, and at the half West Hall held a slim 31-28 lead.
But the Spartans came out strong in the third quarter, outscoring Jackson County 25-6 to move ahead 56-34 at the end of the quarter. They continued on their rout through the fourth, and came away with an 85-48 victory.
Joseph Smith led the Panthers in scoring with 16 points, while Jonathan Baxter recorded nine and Alex Crawford had eight.
“We had a great first half,” said coach Britt Beaver. “(The team) played very smart and executed well. We committed very few turnovers. In the second half, we just ran out of gas.
“West Hall is having a great year, and they have many weapons.”
