Thorsby and Jemison resumed their rivalry on the hardwood on Thursday night, as the Panthers used a points-filled second half to win 60-41.

Jemison led by seven points at the half and quickly grew its lead to double digits with 13 unanswered points to start the third quarter.

“We have struggled finishing this year, and we were finally able to use our defense as offense,” Jemison head coach Stacy McGehee said.

The Panthers scored on nearly every possession in the opening minutes of the second half and did so in the paint and from bonusland.

Ryan Thompson cleaned up the glass and converted the opportunities into points on several occasions en route to 14 points.

“I thought overall we didn’t play that bad, but we just went cold and they were able to hit some threes,” Thorsby head coach Tim Fortner said. “We came out and forced some passes early in third quarter and they got some easy baskets off of that. They were just the better team tonight.”

During the Panthers 13-0 run, Kris Harris knocked down a 3-pointer from right corner and Wes McGehee buried a pair nestled into the left corner.

“It’s intense out there, but you just have to play as a team and make sure everybody gets involved,” Harris said. “I’m just trying to do my part to provide for the team.”

Harris has become quite the versatile player for Jemison and finished in double figures with 10 points in the game.

“Kris is a super kid,” McGehee said. “He never says a word, but just goes out and is a workman out on the court.”

The third quarter surge carried over into fourth quarter, as the Rebels were unable to ever make up the ground needed to get back into the game.

“There is a lot of bragging rights that go into, because a lot of these kids grew up together and live next door to each other,” McGehee said. “There’s no nastiness, just respect.”

A bright spot for Thorsby was the determination of Christian Fortner who continued to drive the lane even during the final moments of the game. He finished with 16 points, with many of those coming from the free throw line.

Bailey Sellers fell just shy of a double-double with seven points and eight rebounds.

“The players look to him [Sellers] for support,” Fortner said.

Will Johns of Jemison led all scorers with 17 points.

“We’re in the meat of the schedule and this is where we’ll find out what we have,” McGehee said.