By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s girls team overcame a sluggish first half Monday and almost pulled out a win.

Holtville won, 20-17.

The game was tied at 2 after one period of play, and Holtville took a commanding 12-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The visiting Bulldogs led 16-7 going into the final quarter, but the JHS offense awoke.

Shelby Griffin sank two free throws with 2:47 remaining in the game to give Jemison (9-11, 2-4) its first lead, 17-16.

Holtville took the lead right back, though, and then the teams traded nine consecutive turnovers until Caroline Currey banked one in with 15 seconds left on the clock to give the visitors the win.

Jemison got off a 3-pointer that would have tied the game, but it was off the mark.

Griffin led Jemison with eight points, and Shelby Lopez had five points.

By Stephen Dawkins

Both Trey Bryant and Javae Swindle scored 19 points for Jemison on Monday as the Panthers defeated Holtville, 66-59, in boys basketball action.

Bryant scored most of his points on four 3-pointers, while Swindle racked up easy baskets after forcing steals in Jemison’s full-court pressure defense.

Swindle did have two 3-pointers near the end of the first half, and such a shot by Zak Kaylor on Jemison’s last possession gave the hosts a 34-26 lead at the break.

Holtville hung around because of poor shooting by JHS in the second half, but the Panthers (11-10, 1-5 area) still had a double-digit lead until a Holtville desperation heave at the buzzer went in.

“Defensively, we did a pretty good job,” Coach Stacy McGehee said. “We just couldn’t throw it in the ocean (on offense).”

Jesse Taylor recorded nine rebounds, six steals and four assists for JHS.

Jemison won the B-team championship Friday at the Chilton County Basketball Tournament.

The Panthers defeated Maplesville, 54-30, in the title game.

MHS was still in striking distance, down 31-24, at the end of the third period, but Jemison outscored its opponents 23-6 in the fourth.

Chris Lassinger led Jemison with 15 points, and Dylan Higgins had 12 points. Brandon Morrow paced Maplesville with 12 points.

By Stephen Dawkins

Chilton County blew by Jemison, 75-59, on Friday in the most anticipated game yet in the county basketball tournament.

CCHS is the eight-time defending champion and the tournament is being played on the Tigers’ home court, but at least some in attendance—which included packed bleachers and some fans watching the game from standing room only spots behind the baseline—thought Jemison had a legitimate shot to dethrone the champs.

But it was apparent early that CCHS would cruise to a win in the semifinal round.

Senior point guard Nelson Williams repeatedly dribbled through JHS’s full-court pressure defense—and scored 17 points in the first half.

Williams finished with 21 points, teammate Grantland Karn had 20 points and DyQuan Floyd finished with 15.

Jeremiah Gates led Jemison with 12 points.

By Stephen Dawkins

The first day of the Chilton County Basketball Tournament was a good one for Jemison.

The JHS girls (44-29 over Maplesville) and boys (87-47 over Verbena) teams advanced with easy wins.

The Panthers girls will face Thorsby at 6:30 p.m. Friday, while the boys will face eight-time defending tournament champion Chilton County High School at 8 p.m. on the same day.

The tournament will feature on Wednesday two games that were scheduled for Monday. When school was canceled because of severe weather, the games were postponed.

Verbena’s and Chilton County’s girls will play at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by Isabella’s and Maplesville’s boys at 5 p.m.

The tournament is being hosted by Maplesville, but games are being played at CCHS.

On Tuesday, Jemison’s boys put their game away early, on back-to-back 3-pointers by Zak Kaylor and Javae Swindle less than 2 minutes into the second period that made the score 27-10.

The Panthers led 51-24 at halftime and 75-37 after three quarters.

Kaylor had a team-high 14 points, and Trey Bryant added 13 points.

Verbena’s T.J. Ray led all scorers with 24 points.

In the girls game, Maplesville was competitive but never really threatened after Kelsey Mims sunk a floater at the first-period buzzer to give Jemison a 13-6 lead.

The Panthers led 23-11 at halftime and 32-19 after three periods, but MHS cut the deficit to eight points, at 33-25, before Mims nailed a 3-pointer with about 6 minutes left to play to end any doubt about the outcome.

Mims scored a game-high 16 points, and teammate Shelby Lopez had 13 points.

Keshia Bailey posted 11 points for Maplesville, and Ebony Childers had 10 points.

From Staff Reports

Jemison’s girls basketball team built a 10-point halftime lead only to lose it in the third period but still won on Tuesday, 41-35 over Isabella.

The Panthers (6-7, 1-2 area) led 18-8 at halftime but were outscored 20-4 in the third quarter as IHS switched to a Box-and-1 defense.

Seniors Whitney Smith (13 points) and Amber Wyatt (7) scored all of Isabella’s points in the period.

But homestanding Jemison responded in the fourth and took a 33-32 lead with about 2 minutes remaining in the game—and put the game away with about 1 minute left when Shayna Robinson made the first free throw during a trip to the line, missed the second but grabbed her own rebound and put it in for a 37-35 lead.

“We did a better job on defense on them,” Jemison coach Stacy McGehee said about the fourth period compared to the third. “It’s just the effort the girls want to give.”

Kelsey Mims led Jemison with 16 points; she also had seven steals.

Tika Nunn scored six points, with three of them coming on four free throw attempts in the final period. Nunn pulled down 14 rebounds.

Smith scored a game-high 20 points, and Wyatt posted 15 points.

From Staff Reports

Jemison fans could relax in the second game of the night as the boys team defeated Isabella, 73-36.

The Panthers (8-6, 1-2) led 25-8 after one period and 45-19 at halftime.

Jalen Hardnett led all scorers with 16 points to go along with five assists and three steals.

Trey Bryant posted 12 points, five assists and three steals.

Sawyer Cahalane, Blake Edwards, Austin Haigler and J.D. Lenoir all scored eight points for IHS.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison fought back from a 20-point halftime deficit on Wednesday to defeat Dora, 65-58, in the championship game of the Holtville/Lake Jordan Jam tournament.

Dora connected on seven 3-pointers in the first half and broke Jemison’s full-court pressure defense with ease, often scoring before all the Panthers were across half court.

But JHS coach Stacy McGehee said the most significant reason behind Dora’s 46-26 lead at intermission was that his boys team was being pushed around.

“At halftime, we went in and said, ‘They slapped us in the face the first half,’” McGehee said. “That’s the way we want to play, physical like that. We just had to answer.”

Jemison’s answer was emphatic.

The Panthers (7-6, 1-2 area) cut the deficit to eight points with 2:42 remaining in the third period when Eddie Hubbard scored at the rim and then added the free throw because of a foul.

JHS took the lead when Javae Swindle stole the ball near Dora’s basket, was fouled and then made two free throws for a 59-58 edge with 1:23 left to play.

Jemison pulled away thanks to clutch free throw shooting, with Swindle and Trey Bryant making 6-of-6 attempts in the final 1:30.

Swindle scored six points in the last minute and a half. Bryant, who was named tournament Most Valuable Player, led all scorers with 21 points, including five 3-pointers.

Jemison defeated American Christian, 48-43, on Tuesday, again because of a strong third quarter and clutch free throw shooting.

The Panthers outscored ACA 20-9 in the third, and made nine free throws in 13 attempts in the fourth.

Hubbard led Jemison with 14 points.

Lady Panthers end tournament with win

Jemison’s girls also won on Wednesday, defeating Billingsley, 49-30.

The Panthers (5-7, 1-2) had a balanced scoring output, with both Kelsey Mims and Tika Nunn posting 10 points, Kortney Robisnon adding nine points and Shelby Griffin chipping in eight points.

On Tuesday, JHS fell to ACA, 70-30.

Mims scored 20 in that one.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison’s boys and girls basketball teams jumped out to 11-0 leads on Monday in the Holtville/Lake Jordan Jams.

One set of Panthers went on to win easily, but the other couldn’t hold the lead—with both games coming against tournament host Holtville.

The JHS boys won, 72-52, while their girls counterparts fell, 38-30.

Trey Bryant scored 11 points in the first period to stake Jemison’s boys (5-6, 1-2 area) to a 22-9 lead going into the second, and the Panthers led by as many as 30 points in the third period.

Bryant finished with a team-high 19 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds.

Eddie Hubbard posted 13 points and five rebounds, and Zak Kaylor added 10 points, including two 3-pointers.

Jemison’s girls (4-6, 1-2) built a lead thanks to three 3-pointers from Kelsey Mims.

Mims found herself in early foul trouble, though, and the Panthers managed only two points in the second period and trailed 17-15 at halftime.

Mims was still JHS’s leading scorer with 11 points. Kortney Robinson had six points.

By Stephen Dawkins

Jemison defeated Beauregard, 75-70, on Monday to end their appearance in the Verbena Christmas Tournament—and the first half of the 2010 season—with a win.

“We played hard for all three games,” JHS coach Stacy McGehee said.

The Panthers (4-6, 1-2 area) will begin the second half of the season, after more than a week’s break for Christmas, by playing in the Holtville/Lake Jordan Jam on Dec. 27 and 29.

The rest should ensure JHS can continue effectively playing its full-court pressure defense, which on Monday kept Beauregard off balance.

Two consecutive 3-pointers by senior Trey Bryant with about 3 minutes remaining in the first period gave Jemison a lead it would never relinquish.

Junior Javae Swindle stole the ball near his own 3-point arc, with about 7:20 on the clock in the second, and passed it ahead to junior Eddie Hubbard, who slammed it home for a 20-13 Jemison lead.

The Panthers led by as many as 14 points in the second period, and held a 38-25 halftime advantage after Ben Howard rebounded a missed shot and put it back in before the buzzer.

But Beauregard fought back in the second half, scoring 31 points in the fourth period and cutting the lead to four with seconds left to play.

“We’re not used to being on the finishing end of games,” McGehee said.

Bryant led Jemison with 18 points.

Hubbard (16 points), Zak Kaylor (12) and Howard (10) also scored in double digits.
Jemison beat Westminster, 60-44, and B.B. Comer, 76-63, earlier in the tournament.