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

The Lewis County High School Panthers, #4 seed in District 10AA, took the court on Tuesday, February 15th in the play-in game of the District 10AA Tournament at home against the #5 seed Mt. Pleasant Tigers. In the win-or-go-home round the winner would move on to play in the semifinal round and the loser would see their season come to an end.

In front of an energized crowd at LCHS, the Panthers and Tigers put on a competitive opening eight minutes of action. Dyer Barnes would knock down 2 three’s in the first quarter to help Lewis County take a 10-8 lead at the end of the first. The teams continued the back-and-forth play in the second quarter, matching baskets for the entire period and the Panthers held on to a 3 point lead at halftime, 23-20. The second half picked up where the first ended with both the Panthers and Tigers keeping the pace of the first sixteen minutes of play and Lewis County edging Mt. Pleasant in the third 16-15 to take a 39-35 lead into the final quarter of regulation. With the game close midway through the fourth quarter Senior Rhett Middleton electrified the crowd, throwing down a dunk over a Tiger defender to add to the Panther lead and fueled the momentum for Lewis County to ride to a 59-51 win in the elimination game of the District 10AA tournament. Dyer Barnes had 22 points in the win, Bryson CLayburn added 12, Rhett Middleton 12, Malachi Bruce 6, Hunter Smith 4, and Austin Shepherd 2.

With the win the Panthers moved on to the District 10AA Semifinal game against the #1 seed Summertown Eagles.

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The Lewis County High School Panthers traveled to Mt. Pleasant for the semifinal game of the District 10AA Torunament. The Panthers, the number 4 seed in the tournament, faced the #1 seed Summertown Eagles at Mt. Pleasant High School on Friday, February 18th.

The Eagles, the number 1 seed in the tournament had swept the season series between the two teams and came out of the gate running the floor. Summertown attacked Lewis County from the tip and ran out to a 27-15 lead after the first eight minutes of play. The Panthers struggled to find any momentum in the second quarter as the Eagle onslaught continued and Summertown extended their lead to 53-26 by the time the teams reached the halftime intermission. Lewis County would come out of the halftime break and match the Eagles for most of the third quarter as Summertown’s lead only slightly increased and the Eagles held a 72-42 lead going into the final quarter of regulation. It would be the Eagles coasting to the finish, outscoring the Panthers 14-10 down the stretch to earn their trip to the Championship round with an 86-52 final. Rhett Middleton finished with 11 points to lead Lewis County, Bryson Clayburn and Dyer Barnes each added 7, Luke Lawson and Malachi Bruce had 6 each, Hunter Smith and Austin Shepherd 4 points apiece, Kyle Holcomb 3 points, and Cade Lomax and Kaden Anderson 2 points.

With the loss the Panthers would drop into the Consolation game to face the Giles County Bobcats.

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The Lewis County Panthers met the Giles County Bobcats in the District 10AA Consolation game at Mt. Pleasant High School on Tuesday night, February 22nd.

Giles County had taken both prior matchups against the Panthers during the regular season, but the Consolation matchup started off as an evenly matched contest. Lewis County played neck and neck for the first eight minutes of play as they matched the Giles County scoring runs and trailed by 2 at 18-16 at the end of the first quarter. The second quarter mirrored the first as the Bobcats pushed the pace, but the Panthers found answers throughout the period and trailed by 3 at 38-35 as the teams left the floor for halftime. The pace slowed in the third quarter as both defenses limited opportunities for their opponent, but Giles County managed to add slightly to their lead and carried a 50-45 lead over the Panthers into the fourth quarter. Giles County saved their best offensive quarter for the final eight minutes as they exploded for 32 points in the period and doubled up the Panthers on their way to an 82-61 win. Rhett Middleton led Lewis County with a game-high 23 points, Dyer Barnes finished with 15, Bryson Clayburn 10, Malachi Bruce 7, Luke Lawson 4, and Austin Shepherd 2.

With the loss, the Panthers finished 4th in the District 10AA tournament and would travel to Fairview to take on the DIstrict 9AA Champion Fairview YellowJackets.

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The Lewis County Panthers traveled to Fairview to face off with the Fairview YellowJackets in the opening round of the Region 5AA tournament. The Panthers entered the game as the #4 seed from District 10AA and the YellowJackets the Champions of District 9AA.

The high-powered offense of the Fairview YellowJackets was on display from the opening tip as they came out of the gate hot. Lewis County found themselves paying from behind early as the Jackets pulled out to an 18-10 lead by the end of the first eight minutes of play. The second quarter was a dominant quarter for the hosts from Fairview as they took complete control of the game, limiting the Panthers to only 4 points in the frame, and dropping 34 points on the way to taking a commanding 52-14 into the halftime break. After the half the Panthers regrouped and put together a solid third quarter, outscoring the Jackets 20-14 in the third to trim the Fairview lead to 66-34 as play moved into the fourth quarter. The Panthers again continued to chip away at the Fairview lead in the final eight minutes of action, as Lewis County outscored the Jackets 20-12 in the fourth. But, the huge lead Fairview build in the second quarter of action proved to be more than enough for the Jackets to cruise to a 78-54 win in the opening round of Regional tournament play and end the Panthers season. Dyer Barnes led Lewis County with 23 points in the season-ending loss, Rhett Middleton added 6 points, Bryson Clayburn and Austin Shepherd each had 5, Hunter Smith had 4, Luke Lawson, Steele Moseley, and Cade Lomax 3 each, and Malachi Bruce 2 points.

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The Lewis County Lady Panthers traveled to Ashland City to face off with the Cheatham County Lady Cubs in the opening round of the Region 5AA tournament. The Lady Panthers entered the game as the #4 seed from District 10AA and the Lady Cubs the Champions of District 9AA.

The Lady Panthers found themselves behind and playing catch up early in the first quarter as the Lady Cubs scored the first 10 points of the game before Blayr Clayton scored 6 straight to get Lewis County within 4, but Cheatham County would end the first quarter on an 8-0 run to take an 18-6 lead into the second period. Cheatham County would explode in the second quarter, scoring 28 points in the quarter while while holding Lewis County to 14 and taking a halftime lead at 46-20. The pace slowed in the second half of the game as Cheatham County was held to 10 points in the third quarter, but Lewis County was unable to make any ground and entered the final eight minutes of regulation trailing 56-24. The Lady Cubs would coast to the final buzzer and take a 63-32 win in the opening round of the Region 5AA girls tournament and bring the Lady Panthers 2021-22 season to a close. Mya Siever led the Lady Panthers with 9 points in the loss, Blayr Clayton ended the game with 8 points, Serenity Warman had 5 points, Kerrigan Reeves 4 points, Ruth Jennings added 3 points, Jayden Moore 2 points, and Desirae Warman 1 point.