Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

The Lewis County High School Lady Panthers and Panthers basketball teams travelled to Lyles to take on the East Hickman Lady Eagles and Eagles on January 5th for District 11AA action.

In the Lady Panthers first action since their first win of the season at Mt. Pleasant, it was the Lady Eagles that took the lead from the tip, outscoring the Lady Panthers 16-0 in the first quarter of action.

Lewis County finally broke into the scoring column in the second quarter as Keira Halbrooks had 5 and Kerrigan Reeves 4 in the period and the Lady Panthers trailed 29-12 at the half.

The Lady Eagles continued to pull away in an 18-point third quarter and the Lady Panthers were down 47-23 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Panthers got 8 points from Halbrooks in a 15-point fourth quarter but it was not enough to overcome the big lead East Hickman built and Lewis County fell 62-38.

Keira Halbrooks had 15 for the Lady Panthers, Kerrigan Reeves 13, Jayden Hinson 5, Reagan Webb and Blayr Clayton 2 each, and Emily Bratcher 1. Maddie Hobbs had 17 for East Hickman, Kayla Ray 8, Ella Griffin 7, Kinsey Kinard and Abby Lampley 6 each, Taylor Murrell, Ky-leeta Sowell, and Emily Warren 4 each, Braylee Clark and Taylor Holt 3 apiece.

The Panthers and Eagles squared off in the second game of the evening, and the teams went back and forth in the first quarter, matching baskets for almost the entire 8 minutes of the period. Bryson Clayburn and Dyer Barnes each had 5 in the first, but the Eagles held a 15-13 edge moving into the second.

The Panthers would hold tight with the visitors in another tight period in the second as Barnes dropped eight more in the quarter and the Panthers pulled to within 2 at 31-29 heading into the intermission.

The theme of the night was the back-and-forth tempo of the game as neither team could put any space between until late in the third when Lewis County pulled out in front and led 40-47, setting up a great fourth quarter. The fourth quarter saw the teams exchanging baskets again, and the Panthers opened the door for the home team as they were 1-5 at the free throw line in the final eight minutes of play, but held on for a 65-62 win on the road.

Dyer Barnes led the Panthers with 20, Bryson Clayburn added 18, Levi Thompson and Rett Middleton 11 each, Slade Moseley 3, and Austin Shepherd 2. Parker Nicholson had 24 for the Eagles, Colton Ragsdale 14, Kyle England 12, Mason Gianokos 5, Malik Cook 4, and Brennan Davis 3.