LCHS Basketball

By Jason Fite, Sports writer

The Lewis County Panthers traveled to Mt. Pleasant High School on Tuesday, February 21st to take on the Summertown Eagles in the consolation game of the District 10-AA Tournament.

Lewis County reached the consolation game after a knockout round win over Mt. Pleasant and a semifinal loss to Giles County. Summertown lost in the semifinals to Loretto to match up with the Panthers.

The game was a tight game from the opening tip with a fast-pace as the two teams played even over most of the first quarter before the Eagles secured an 18-15 lead at the end of the period.

Bryson Clayburn led a second quarter surge for the Panthers with eight of Lewis County’s eighteen points that pulled the Panthers ahead to a 33-31 lead at the half.

Lewis County matched Summertown in the third quarter as Clayburn (5) and Dyer Barnes (6) paced the Panthers and they held a two-point lead at 48-46 as play moved into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter did not disappoint as the teams continued to battle over the final eight minutes of regulation. With Lewis County clinging to a two-point lead in the waning second, Summertown knocked down a three to take a one-point lead. With under fifteen seconds to go, Bryson Clayburn drove to the basket and floated a contested shot up and in to give the Panthers a one-point advantage. Summertown would turn the ball over on their next possession and put the Panthers at the free-throw line with just over four seconds remaining. On the miss, Summertown would get off a desperation shot at the buzzer that fell off target and the Panthers took the 69-68 win.

Bryson Clayburn led the Panthers with 25 points in the win, Dyer Barnes added 19, Wyatt Bosheers and Malachi Bruce each had 7, Kyle Holcomb 5, Cade Lomax 4, and Drew Ray 2.

With the win the Panthers moved on to the Region 5-AA quarterfinals against Cheatham County.

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The Lewis County Panthers traveled to Ashland City for the Region 5-AA quarterfinal matchup with the Cheatham County Cubs. The Panthers came into the game as the #3 seed out of District 10-AA while the Cubs were the #2 seed from District 9-AA.

The Panthers struggled to find their footing in the opening quarter as Bryson Clayburn accounted for five of the team’s seven first quarter points and the Cubs doubled-up Lewis County 14-7 at the end of the period.

The Panthers would begin to cut into the Cheatham County lead in the second as Clayburn again led the way with five and Lewis County outscored the Cubs 12-11 in the period to go into the half trailing 25-19.

Lewis County would continue to keep the game in reach over the third quarter as Clayburn and Dyer Barnes each had sixin the quarter and the Panthers trailed 45-36 as the game moved to the fourth quarter.

Cheatham County would put the game away over the final eight minutes as they exploded for 34 points in the period and ended the Panthers’ season with a 79-51 loss.

Bryson Clayburn had 25 for the Panthers, Dyer Barnes added 8, Wyatt Bosheers and Cade Lomax each ended with 7, and Malachi Bruce and Julian Jones each had 2.

The Panthers ended the 2022-23 season with a 9-21 record.

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The Lewis County Lady Panthers traveled to Pleasant View to take on the Sycamore Lady War Eagles in the Region 5-AA quarterfinals. Lewis County entered as the #4 seed from District 10-AA while Sycamore came in as the #1 seed from District 9-AA.

The Lady War Eagles showed they deserved their seeding from the tip as they opened the game with a huge run, scoring the first 22 points of the game as they outpaced the Lady Panthers 30-6 in the first quarter.

The Lady Panther defense improved over the second quarter as they held Sycamore to only ten second quarter points while scoring six and fell behind 40-12 at halftime.

The third quarter was another low scoring quarter for both teams as the Lady War Eagles outscored the Lady Panthers 12-5 in the period and the Lewis County trailed 52-17 as play moved on to the fourth quarter.

With a running clock for the final eight minutes of action Lewis County outscored Sycamore 8-7 and the Lady Panthers’ season came to an end in a 59-25 loss.

Desirae Warman led the Lady Panthers in the loss with 11 points, Blayr Clayton added 5, Kerrigan Reeves and Gabii Ortiz each had 3,and Klayr Shepherd, Jayden Moore and Ruth Jennings each had 1.

The Lady Panthers season ended with a 7-22 record.