By David Seale

The Jemison Middle School basketball season got underway Nov. 5 and Nov. 7 at the Jemison Middle Tip Off Classic for boys. After dropping the first game to Millbrook, the Panthers rebounded on Saturday to defeat Clanton Middle.
The full season began when both the boys and girls teams traveled to Holtville and left with two wins.  For the boys, John Underwood led the Panthers with 10 points and eight rebounds, with Kortlin Zeigler adding nine points and B.J. Kornegay tossing in seven.
The girls were led by 7th grader Jennifer Paschal’s five points and three others with four points, giving Jemison the 20-12 win.
Fortune turned the other way when JMS went to Dallas County to take on Martin Middle School.  While the boys lost, the bright spot was the 20-point performance by B.J. Kornegay, along with Randy Satterfield’s seven rebounds. The Panthers lost by only one point.
The girls we led by Yasmine Stoudamire’s two points and eight rebounds as they also took the defeat.
The Panthers returned to their winning ways in their home opener against Marbury on Nov. 16.
Laura Vinzant paced the girls with six points and four rebounds, and Kaitlyn Caudle added five points as the Lady Panthers dominated the Bulldogs 23-15, and leading 12-0 at the half.
The boys were even more powerful as they trounced Marbury 58-26. Satterfield led all scorers with 16 points and had seven rebounds and five assists. Zeigler and Underwood were also in double figures, with 12 and points, respectively, as the Panthers never trailed.
Both teams will host rematches after Thanksgiving, with Holtville visiting on Nov. 30 and Martin Middle coming for a rematch on Dec. 1. The action for both evenings will start at 5 p.m. at the Jemison High School gymnasium.

– David Seale is the assistant principal of Jemison Middle School.