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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

As the temperatures dip outside, they are going up inside gymnasiums across Chilton County as all seven area varsity boy’s basketball teams took the court the week of Dec. 2-7.

Chilton County High School went 2-0 during its week, starting with a 53-20 win over Jemison High School on Dec. 4. The game remained close after the opening quarter with CCHS holding a slim 17-13 lead over the Panthers. However, the Tigers outscored Jemison 36-7 the rest of the game to cruise to the win.

Marshall Thornhill led all scorers with 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including knocking down the pair of 3-point shots he put up, while adding 11 rebounds and three blocks. D.J. Caffey registered 11 points and four rebounds and assists each.

The Tigers followed that up the next day with a 67-32 win over Elmore County High School that saw the Tigers lead comfortably 39-19 after a 27-point second quarter outburst. Caffey led the team in scoring with 22 points on 8-for-13 shooting, and knocked for five of six 3-point attempts in the game. Aiden Smitherman was close behind with 21 points, a season-high, with all his points coming on 3-pointers at a 7-for-12 clip. Justin Godwin had 10 rebounds, and Thornhill pitched in six assists.

The loss to CCHS snapped Jemison’s three-game winning streak that featured wins over Isabella, Holtville and Billingsley high schools, all by double-digit margins. The Panthers righted its ship on Dec. 5 narrowly beating Thorsby High School 49-48 to become winners of four of its last five games dating back to Nov. 28.

Thorsby’s week was split 1-1 after its loss to Jemison was preceded by a 43-37 win over Maplesville High School in the Red Devils’ season opener. The Red Devils bounced back on Dec. 7 taking a 60-34 win on the road at Isabella for their first win of the young season.

Verbena High School earned its first win since January 2022 beating the Mustangs 69-43 on Dec. 5 in its only game of the week.

Billingsley High School dropped both of its games during the week, the first a 52-33 defeat to Holtville on Dec. 5. Kyle Boice led the Bears in scoring with 13 points and added five rebounds, while Landon Jones had seven points and five rebounds.

Loachapoka got the better of Billingsley 44-32 on Dec. 7 to open the Bears AHSAA Class 1A Area 7 schedule.