By Jason Fite/Sports writer

Pete Noblin/Photos

The Lewis County Middle School Lady Panthers and Panthers hosted the Riverside Lady Panthers and Panthers as play resumed following the Christmas Break on Monday, January 2nd.

Decatur County jumped out in front early, scoring the game's first five points. Lewis County would get on the board midway through the first quarter, but the Riverside Lady Panthers would hold an 8-3lead after one quarter. A second-period basket from B.B. Smith would tie the game, but a Riverside run would stake the home team to a 17-12 halftime lead. Five points from Haylee Carroll and a basket y Jazzy Conner in the waning seconds of the third quarter would cut the Riverside lead to two at 25-23 as play moved on to the fourth quarter. Lewis County would take the lead early in the fourth and pull away to a 39-32 win. B.B. Smith had 20 points in the win, Paisley Kellogg added 6, Haylee Carroll and Jazzy Conner each had 5, Jaelin Baugh 2, and Zoie Collins 1.

There were five lead changes in the opening quarter as Lewis County and Riverside went back and forth over the first six minutes of action before the Panthers took an 11-9 lead on a Maddox Tanner basket at the end of the opening quarter. Lewis County would seize the lead midway through a tight second quarter and built a 24-19 lead behind nine Dakota Hull points in the period as the game reached the halftime break. Riverside would pull towithin four of the Panthers late in the third quarter with Lewis County leading 38-34. But Lewis County would outscore Riverside 15-8 over the final six minutes to secure a 53-42 win at home. Dakota Hull finished with 16 to lead the Panthers, Bo Banks added 15, Phoenix McDonald 14, and Maddox Tanner had 8.

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The LCMS Lady Panthers and Panthers hosted the Waynesboro Lady Wildcats and Wildcats on Thursday, January 5th.

The pace of the rematch was much slower than in the first meeting of the two teams. Both the Lady Panthers and the Lady Wildcats struggled to find an offense in a defensive first period of play, and a late Waynesboro basket gave the Lady Wildcats a 4-2 lead at the end of the first quarter. Lewis County would pull even twice in the second quarter, but Waynesboro would again find baskets late in the period to take an 11-7 lead in at halftime. The Lady Panthers would be held to a single free throw from Jazzy Conner in the third quarter as Waynesboro opened up a 21-8 lead by the end of the quarter. Lewis County would outscore the visitors 7-4 over the final six minutes of action but dropped the final 25-15. Jazzy Conner led the Lady Panthers with 5 points, Jaelin Baugh had 4, and Haylee Carroll and B.B. Smith 3 each.

The Panthers jumped out in front of the Wildcats in the first quarter of the rematch behind seven Dakota Hull points and took an 18-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. Kobe Feichtinger caught fire in the second quarter, scoring twelve points to lead the Panthers to a 40-17 halftime lead. With a big lead in the third quarter, Lewis County continued to pressure the Wildcats and built a thirty-point lead at 52-22 as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Waynesboro would win the fourth quarter 7-5, but the huge lead the Panthers had built over the first eighteen minutes of play was more than enough as Lewis County took a 57-29 win at home. Maddox Tanner had 16 points for the Panthers, Kobe Feichtinger 15, Bo Banks and Dakota Hull 12 each, and Nolan Whitehead 2.

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The Lewis County Middle School Lady Panthers and Panthers started their final week of the regular season on the road Monday night, January 9th, as they traveled to Lawrenceburg for games against the E.O. Coffman Lady Panthers and Panthers.

In their first meeting in Hohenwald, Coffman ran away from the Lady Panthers with a big 52-11 win. The two teams played a back-and-forth first quarter as Haylee Carroll knocked down two threes in the period and the game was tied 8-8 after six minutes of play. Coffman would begin to pull out in front midway through the second as the outscored Lewis County 21-4 in the quarter and took a 29-12 lead in at halftime. Coffman started the second half on a 9-0 run and built a commanding 41-14 lead as play moved into the fourth. B.B. Smith scored the first seven points of the fourth, but the deficit was too big, and the Lady Panthers fell 48-24. Haylee Carroll had 12 for the Lady Panthers in the loss, B.B. Smith added 7, Jazzy Conner 4, and Paisley Kellogg 1.

Lewis County was out for revenge after dropping the matchup in Hohenwald 64-46. Coffman would pull out in front late in the first and held a 14-11 lead at the end of the first. Bo Banks would lead the charge to take the lead in the opening moments of the second quarter, scoring six-straight. The lead would change hands seven times in the second quarter before the Panthers pulled out in front to take a 33-28 lead at the half. Lewis County started the second half on a 10-0 run and built a double-digit lead at 43-32 as play moved on to the fourth quarter. The Panthers outscored Coffman 12-9 down the stretch to secure a big 55-41 win on the road. Dakota Hull finished the night with 21 points, Bo Banks added 14, Kobe Feichtinger 11, Phenix McDonald 5, and Maddox Tanner 4.

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The LCMS Lady Panthers and Panthers traveled to Parsons on Tuesday, January 10th to faceoff with the Riverside Lady Panthers and Panthers for the second time in January.

Lewis County struggled early on offense and Riverside was able to take an early lead, shutting out the Lady Panthers in a 6-0 first quarter. Lewis County would get on the board with a Jaelin Baugh basket early in the second quarter, but Riverside continued to give the Lady Panthers problems as the host was able to pull out to an 18-5 lead at halftime. Lewis County would charge back in the third quarter with Paisley Kellogg's five points leading the way as the Lady Panthers outscored Riverside 14-4 and cut the Riverside lead to 3 at 22-19 moving into the fourth. After a pair of Jazzy Conner free-throws pulled the Lady Panthers to within one, but Riverside would do enough to keep Lewis County at bay and the Lady Panthers fell 27-25. Haylee Carroll, Jazzy Conner ,and Paisley Kellogg each had 6 points in the loss B.B Smith added 5, and Jaelin Baugh had 2.

Lewis County held the lead form most of the first quarter over Riverside, but the host scored the final five points of the period to take an 10-7 lead after the first six minutes. Four straight points from Bo Banks to start the second gave Lewis County a one-point lead, and the teams would exchange the lead throughout the quarter before Riverside secured a 23-21 lead just before halftime. The third quarter was another tight period asthe Panthers briefly took a one-point lead ,but Riverside again closed out the quarter with the lead at 35-32. a 6-0 run by the Panthers gave Lewis County a lead in the fourth, and the lead would change hands five times before Riverside tied the game at 43. In the final seconds of regulation, Riverside connected on a three to secure a 46-43 win over the Panthers. Dakota Hull had 18 in the loss, Bo Banks added 13, Maddox Tanner 6, and Phenix McDonald and Kobe Feichtinger each had 3.

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The Lewis County Middle School Lady Panthers and Panthers finished their regular season on the road as they traveled to Centerville to take on the Hickman County Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs.

Lewis County came out of the gate on fire as they scored the game's first six points and outscored the host 10-2 in the quarter. The Lady Panthers continued to add to their lead with a 12-8 second quarter and took a 22-10 lead in for the halftime break. The third quarter was a slow-paced period of action as both teams struggled to find offense as the Lady Panthers were held to only two free-throws but still maintained a double-digit lead at 24-14 moving to the fourth quarter. Both teams found offensive footing in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Bulldogs 12-7 in the final six minutes and cruised to a 36-21 win.

The first quarter of the boys' matchup was a tight, back-and-forth period of action as the teams exchanged the lead four times over six minutes and the Panthers took a 12-11 lead on a Bo Banks basket before the end of the first. The second quarter saw the teams again counter each other in a close period, and Lewis County took a five-point lead later in the period when Phenix McDonald connected on a three. But Hickman County would end the first half on a four-point run and Lewis County would hold a narrow 19-18 lead at halftime. The third quarter saw the host squeak out in front 26-21 midway through the period and the Panthers would pull it tight again moments later, but the Bulldogs would hold a 27-25 with six minutes of regulation left to play. The Panthers would fall behind by five in the fourth quarter, but would start chipping away. A Dakota Hull basket late would inch the Panthers up by one, and Maddox Tanner would ice the game with two late free throws as the Panthers took a 38-35 win. Dakota Hull had 11 points in the win, Bo Banks added 10, Phenix McDonald 8, Kobe Feichtinger 5, and Maddox Tanner 4.