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.