By Jason Fite/Sports writer

Pete Noblin/Photos

The Lewis County High School Lady Panthers and Panthers hosted the Loretto Lady Mustangs and Mustangs for District 10AA games on Friday, January 20th at Lewis County High School.

The Lady Mustangs jumped on the Lady Panthers from the tip, connecting on seven first-quarter three pointers while limiting Lewis County to only two field goals and building a huge first quarter lead at 32-4.

In control of the game, Loretto continued to add to their already large lead in the second quarter by outscoring the Lady Panthers 25-8 despite Lewis County getting six from Desirae Warman, and the Lady Mustangs took a 57-12 lead at the halftime break.

The Lady Panther effort improved after the break, but Loretto extended their big lead over the eight-minute stretch and held a 77-26 lead as play moved into the fourth quarter.

With a running clock over the last eight minutes, Lewis County was held scoreless and Loretto rolled to a 90-26 win over the Lady Panthers.

Keira Halbrooks tallied 12 points for the Lady Panthers in the loss, Desirae Warman finished the night with 10 points, Kailee Thomas added 5 points, and Kerrigan Reeves 3.

The Mustangs took an early lead in the boys game as they outpaced the Panthers over the first quarter 16-13 as Dyer Barnes helped Lewis County with six in the period.

Loretto began to extend their lead during the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers by 10, and Barnes again carried the load with seven of the team's nine points in the quarter. Loretto pulled out to a 35-22 lead by halftime.

The Panthers started to climb back into the game after halftime led by ten Kyle Holcomb points and cut the Mustang lead to 53-42 by the end of the quarter. During the third quarter run Dyer Barnes eclipsed the 1,000 career point plateau with his fourth point of the period.

The teams would play even basketball down the stretch in the fourth quarter and the Panthers fell at home 67-56.

Dyer Barnes not only scored his 1,000th career point in the game, but he was the high point man in the loss with 25 points. Kyle Holcomb chipped in 13, Bryson Clayburn added 10, and Malachi Bruce had 8.

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The Lady Panthers and Panthers were on the road on Tuesday, January 24th as they traveled to Summertown to face the Lady Eagles and Eagles in a District 10AA matchup.

The Lady Eagle defense gave the Lady Panthers fits in the early going. Summertown, fueled by transition baskets, ran out in front of the Lady Panthers 25-6 in the opening eight minutes of the game.

The Lady Eagle barrage continued into the second quarter as they held Lewis County to a lone Kerrigan Reeves three-pointer and outscored the Lady panthers 26-3 in the period to take a 51-9 lead at the half.

The break did not help the Lady Panthers as the Lady Eagles completely shut out Lewis County in the third on their way to building a 74-9 lead as play moved into the fourth quarter.

With a running clock for the final eight minutes of the game Lewis County was held to a Ruth Jennings basket as the Lady Eagles closed out an 82-11 win.

Kerrigan Reeves had 5 points in the loss, and Kailee Thomas, Gabii Ortiz, and Ruth Jennings each finished with 2 points.

The first quarter of the boys' matchup was a back-and-forth battle for the early part of the first quarter as the teams exchanged baskets, but the Eagles edged out in front late in the period and secured a 13-8 lead by the end of the first.

Three Bryson Clayburn three-point baskets in the second quarter led the Panther charge back to tie the game, but a three pointer at the first half buzzer propelled the Eagles to a 26-23 lead as the teams went to the locker-room.

Scoring was at a premium in the third quarter, and the teams played another tight quarter. Lewis County cut the Eagle lead to two as time ticked down in the period, but a second late-quarter basket gave the Eagles a 40-36 lead as play moved into the final eight minutes of regulation.

The Panthers chipped away at the slim Eagle lead as Wyatt Bosheers added five points in the fourth and Lewis County tied the game late at 48-48. After a late foul call gave the Eagles possession under their own basket with just under five seconds to play, a lob and a shot from behind the three-point arc fell and Summertown took the win 51-48.

Bryson Clayburn led the Panthers in the win with 15 points, Malachi Bruce had 12, Wyatt Bosheers 9, and Dyer Barnes 4.

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The Lady Panthers and Panthers were on the road on Friday, January 27th as they traveled to Mt. Pleasant for a rematch of District 10AA opponents with the Lady Tigers and Tigers. The Lady Panthers took a 69-31 win at home two weeks prior, while the Panthers came away with a 78-64 win.

Five different Lady Panthers scored in the first eight minutes of play as Lewis County edged out in front of the Lady Tigers 10-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Panthers would hold the Lady Tigers to only four points in the second period and the Lady Panthers got four points from Keira Halbrooks as they built an 18-11 lead at halftime.

The Lady Tigers would bounce back in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Panthers 14-12 despite a seven-point period from Kerrigan Reeves and the Lewis County lead was 32-23 as play moved on to the fourth quarter.

The Lady Panthers would have their best offensive quarter of the night in the fourth, getting six points from both Desirae Warman and Keira Halbrooks as they pulled away late in a 52-44 win.

Keira Halbrooks led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 12 points, Kerrigan Reeves added 11, Jayden Moore and Blayr Clayton each had 7, Desirae Warman 6, Klayr Shepherd 4, Ruth Jennings 3, and Aryn Shepherd 2.

The Tigers were defending their home court during the opening quarter of action. The Tigers outscored the Panthers in the first quarter 18-13 as the Panthers got seven from Kyle Holcomb.

Lewis County locked down the Tiger offensive attack in the second, holding the host to only seven points in the period.

Bryson Clayburn led the Panthers with six points as Lewis County closed the gap and tied the game 25-25 by halftime.

The Tigers flipped the script after the half as they limited the Panthers to seven while reclaiming the lead at 38-32 as play moved into the fourth quarter.

The teams matched baskets down the stretch and the Panthers were unable to cut into the Tiger lead as Mt. Pleasant took the win 53-46.

Bryson Clayburn had 17 points in the loss, Kyle Holcomb added 15, Dyer Barnes had 9, Malachi Bruce 3, and Wyatt Bosheers 2.

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The Lady Panthers traveled to Santa Fe Unit School to take on the Lady Wildcats and Wildcats for the second time of the season. The Lady Panthers took a 40-38 win at home in December, while the Panthers fell at home 75-64.

The Lady Panthers found themselves playing catchup early in the first quarter as Santa Fe scored fourteen points early in the game and held the Lady Panthers to six in the period to take an 8-point lead on to the second quarter of action.

The Lady Panthers regrouped between quarters and fought back in the second. Keira Halbrooks had six points in the second as Lewis County pulled to within two at halftime 23-21.

The teams came out after the halftime intermission and played a tight third quarter with Jayden Moore dropping seven in the period and the Lady Wildcats took a 37-34 lead into the fourth quarter.

The Lady Panthers continued to fight back in the fourth and found themselves down two in the final seconds as a Santa Fe foul with under five seconds remaining put Kerrigan Reeves at the line shooting two shots, needing two points to tie the game. Reeves made both free throws and the score was tied 48-48 at the end of regulation.

Free throws were the deciding factor in the final as Santa Fe would score nine from the charity stripe in the overtime period and outlasted the Lady Panthers in a 59-53 final.

Desirae Warman had 15 points in the overtime loss for the Lady Panthers, Kerrigan Reeves added 10, Keira Halbrooks 8, Jayden Moore 7, Aryn Shepherd 6, Klayr Shepherd 3, and Gabii Ortiz and Ruth Jennings 2 each.

The boys' matchup started at a fast pace. 6 Panthers contributed to a 2-point quarter, but Lewis County found themselves trailing 24-20 after eight minutes of action to the hot-shooting Wildcats.

The up-tempo Wildcats continued with the hot hand, out pacing the Panthers by three in the second quarter to secure a 42-35 lead as the game reached the midpoint.

The break did not cool off the shooters from Santa Fe as they again eclipsed twenty points in the third quarter and the Panthers fell behind 64-50 as the third quarter came to a close.

The Panthers fought to cut the lead down the stretch, but the Wildcats were able to hold their lead and took an 85-74 win.

Dyer Barnes finished with 20 points in the loss, Bryson Clayburn and Malachi Bruce each had 10, Kyle Holcomb 7, Cade Lomax and Ryan Tanner 6 each, Jalen Smith 5, Drew Ray 4, and Wyatt Bosheers, Julian Jones, and Jaxon Fite had 2 each.