LCMS wins two at Ethridge

The Lewis County Middle School Lady Panthers and Panthers travelled to Ethridge to take on the Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs in junior varsity and varsity matchups on Thursday, December 3.

In the girls' junior varsity game, the first action of the evening, the Lady Bulldogs pulled away early as the Lady Panthers were held to a lone Jazzy Conner basket and trailed 10-2 at the half.

The Lady Panther JV played a much stronger second half, limiting the Lady Bulldog JV to only 2 second half points and made a run to cut the lead before falling short and dropping the junior varsity matchup 12-10.

Jazzy Conner and Addison Carroll each had 4 points and Aubrey Hankins added 2.

In the second game of the night, the Panthers junior varsity came out with a blistering pace and pulled out to a 33-10 halftime lead with Phenix McDonald, Bo Banks, and Kolt Skelton each scoring 9 in the half.

The Bulldogs kept the scoring closer in an even second half, but Lewis County's junior varsity was too much as the Panther JV finished off the Bulldogs JV 49-25.

Phenix McDonald and Kolt Skelton each had 11 points, Bo Banks 9, Julian Jones 8, Carter Stewart 6, and Kade Carroll 4.

Brady Viewicz had 7 for the Bulldogs, Tucker Hammons had 4, Eli Duncan, Trig Littrell, and Gauge Cothran each had 3, and Wyatt Shelton and Andon Rogers each had 2.

The girls' varsity game saw the Lady Panthers get out to a 7-4 first quarter lead behind 5 points from Gabii Ortiz. The Lady Bulldogs pulled back into the game in the second, limiting the Lady Panthers to 2 Jayden Moore buckets to cut the lead to 11-10 going in at the half.

In another tight quarter in the third, the Lady Panthers edged the Lady Bulldogs 8-7 and held a 2-point lead moving into the final 6 minutes of regulation. Lewis County's defense clamped down in the fourth, limiting opportunities for the Lady Bulldogs and pulling away to a 28-19 victory on the road. Gabii Ortiz led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 12, Jayden Moore 9, Haylee Carroll 3, Claire Whitehead and Addison Carroll each with 2.

Jazaiah Stevenson had 6 for Ethridge, Abby Williams 5, Julianne Duncan 4, Camryn Dollar 3, and Lexi Brown 1.

With the win, the Lady Panther's improved to 6-4 on the season.

The Panthers took the floor in the final game of the night against the Bulldogs and the teams went back and forth from the tip. Drew Ray had 4 points early for the Panthers, who got out to a 9-6 lead in the first. The Panthers couldn't shake the Bulldogs in the second, as the host matched the Panthers scoring almost basket for basket and the teams entered halftime with Lewis County leading 19-14.

After halftime, the Panthers defense kicked in, limiting the Bulldogs to only 5 points while dropping 15, 8 from Cade Lomax, and pulled out to a 34-19 lead moving on to the fourth quarter. The visitors continued to put the pressure on the Bulldogs down the stretch in the fourth, as Lomax dropped 10 in the period, and pulled away to a 48-24 victory.

Cade Lomax led the way with 22, Drew Ray had 11, Steele Moseley and Ryan Tanner 4 each, Sam Moore 3, and Jaxon Fite and Bo Banks 2 each.

Gage Duncan had 8 for the Bulldogs, Denton Shelton 5, Elijah Kinslow 4, Llayton Sherman and Sawyer Sherman 3, and Dierks Boyd 1.

With the win, the Panthers improved to 9-1 on the season.