TVBA Action

By Jason Fite/Sports writer

The Lewis County Panthers 4th Grade TVBA team traveled to Loretto High School on Saturday, January 28th for a pair of games against the Sheffield (AL) Bulldogs.

It was all Panthers from the opening tip in the first half as Dominick James, haven Ray, and Kayden O'Neal each had four points in a 12-0 run to start the game. Lewis County would continue to pour it on over the course of action in the first half and pulled out to a 20-10 lead at halftime. The Lewis County defense would clamp down on the Bulldogs in the second half and shut out their opponent for the entire period. Lewis County would outscore Sheffield 15-0 in the second half and took a 35-10 win. Kayden O'neal had 10 points to lead the Panthers in the win, Haven Ray added 8, Kanon McDonald 7, Dominick James 6, and Hunter Carroll 4.

In the second game of the evening the Panthers again used a run to open play, this time an 8-0 start before the Bulldogs were able to get on the board. Sheffield cut the Lewis County lead to 8-6 midway through the first half, but the Panthers would outscore the Bulldogs 14-2 to close out the first half and held a 22-8 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs would never be closer than they were heading into the half as Kanon McDonald and Cooper Johnston fueled a Panther run to start the second half and the Panthers never looked back, outscoring the Bulldogs 29-6 over the course of the second half and took a big 51-14 win over Sheffield. Kanon McDonald dropped 24 in the game for Lewis County in the big win, Hunter Carroll added 12, Kayden O'Neal 8, Haven Ray 4, Dominick James 2, and Cooper Johnston 1.

The Panthers finished the day 2-0 in TVBA play.

The Lewis County Lady Panthers Tennessee Valley Basketball Association team traveled to Killen, Alabama and Brooks High School for a pair of TVBA games against the Florence (AL) Central Lady Wildcats and the Brooks (AL) Lady Lions.

In the first game of the day the Lady Panthers jumped out in front of the Lady Lions early. With a 10-0 run to start the game the Lady Panthers built a lead in the first half and went in at halftime holding a big 18-4 lead behind 5 points each from Jacelyn Anthony and Briley Dodson. The pace of the game cooled down in the second half as each team utilized their bench and the Lady Panthers outscored the Lady Bobcats 2-1 over the course of the period. Lewis County came away with a big 20-5 win over Central. Jazlynn Baugh finished with 6 points for the Lady Panthers, Jacelyn Anthony and Briley Dodson each added 5 points, and Addisen Staggs and Landree White each finished with 2 points in the game.

Addisen Staggs opened up the scoring for the Lady Panthers in their matchup with the Brooks (AL) Lady Lions, and the two teams exchanged the lead before Brooks secured a lead late in the first half and held a 7-4 lead as the game reached halftime. The Lady Panthers would take the lead late in the second half at 8-7, but the Lady Lions would pick up a basket late to take a 9-8 lead. In the waning seconds of regulation, Jacelyn Anthony would knock down a basket to give the Panthers the late lead and they would hold on for a 10-9 win over Brooks. Jacelyn Anthony would finish the game with 4 points, and Briley Dodson, Addisen Staggs, and Jazzlyn Baugh each finished with 2 points in the win.

The Lady Panthers finished the day with a 2-0 record in TVBA play.

The Lewis County Panthers 3rd Grade TVBA team travelled to Leoma Elementary School on Saturday, January 28th for Tennessee Valley Basketball Association play against the Lawrence County (TN) Gold and Lawrence County (TN) Purple.

The 3rd Grade Panthers and the Lawrence County Gold fought a back-and-forth battle in the first half. Lawrence County took a one-point lead late in the first half and held on to an 8-7 lead as the game reached the half. The second half was almost a mirror image of the first as the Panthers continued to keep the game close but could not make up any ground. The Lawrence County Gold team was able to outscore Lewis County again by one in the second half and took a 17-15 final. Kendel Mathis led the Panthers with 5 points in the loss, Carter Creasy and Cazden Lomax each had 4 points, and Cash Creasy finished the game with 2 points.

Reeling from the two-point loss in their first game, the Panthers found themselves playing from behind in their second game of the evening. The Lawrence County Purple jumped on the Panthers in the first half and took a 10-3 lead in at the halftime break. Larence County continued to make things tough for the Panthers in the second half, again limiting scoring opportunities and holding the Panthers to only four points over the second half. Lawrence County would cruise to a 21-7 win. Carter Creasy and Cazden Lomax would each finish with 3 points in the game, and Cash creasy would add 1 point.