By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

The Jemison Panthers varsity boys basketball team boasts a Chilton County best record this season at 18-8 overall and 4-2 in area play.

However, three of those eight losses have come at the hands of the Chilton County Tigers, with the second coming in the finals of the Chilton County Basketball Tournament, when the Tigers got the best of the Panthers in a 62-59 nail-biter.

The two teams faced off again on Friday night in front of another capacity crowd, this time on the hardwood at Jemison High School to wrap up the regular season for the Panthers.

As both of the previous meetings have gone, the game came down to the wire, but again, it was the Tigers coming away with the win over the Panthers, 74-68.

The Tigers (10-13, 0-5) jumped out quickly on the Panthers, going on an 8-0 run to start the game before the Panthers would score their first points.

A quick timeout was what the Panthers needed to settle into the game and close the gap, but the fire period ended with JHS still down 25-20.

Jacob Hatch led the Panthers during the second period, draining three 3-pointers, but 10 first-half points by Davre Williams would lead the Tigers to a 35-33 halftime edge.

Forrest Knight joined Hatch in a 3-point shooting competition to start the third period by draining two from long range for the Tigers.

The Tigers took a six-point advantage into the fourth period, leading the Panthers 49-43.

Knight and Hatch were far from done, as both continued to light up the scoreboard from 3-point range, but it would be Knight’s work from the charity stripe that would make the difference for the Tigers and give them the edge that they needed to pick up the win.

Knight led the way for Chilton with 21 points, including shooting 4-of-6 from 3-point range and 7-of-8 from the free throw line, to go along with five rebounds.

Hatch scored 21 points for JHS, including 7-of-12 from behind the arc, and added six rebounds.

The Jemison girls have fared no better than their counterparts against rival CCHS, having lost both match-ups against the Tigers.

It took five periods on Friday night, but the Panthers pulled out the win over Chilton County, 38-35 in overtime.

The Panthers (10-11, 3-3) were able to come away with a one-point lead during the first period. The Panthers, led by Laura Vinzant’s eight first-half points, built their lead to four at the half, 14-10.

Kadesha Lee gave the Tigers their first lead late in the third period, and the Tigers would close out the period with a 19-16 lead.

Down two points with 0:39 to play, Vinzant drew the Panthers to within one point from the free throw line, and on a foul after a steal of the Tigers inbound would tie the game from the free throw line at 31-all with 0:20 to play.

With the game headed to overtime, the Tigers (7-14, 0-5) had to face the Panthers the rest of the way without their star Keona DeJarnett, who picked up her fifth foul late in the fourth period.

Diana Guerrero gave the Tigers an early lead, but India Satterfield and Shelby Griffin picked up the Panthers offense with the Tigers focusing on Vinzant.

After a Satterfield basket to give the Panthers the lead, Griffin added two from the free throw line to give the Panthers the 38-35 win.

Vinzant recorded 19 points, four steals, five rebounds and two blocks. Griffin added nine points, five rebounds and a steal for the Panthers.

DeJarnett led for the Tigers with 16 points, five rebounds, two blocks and seven steals.