Jemison’s Kiara Steele shoots over McKinley Sellers (No. 10) of Thorsby. (Photo by Anthony Richards)

The Jemison Panthers made the short trip down Highway 31 and defeated county-rival Thorsby 39-34 in a girls basketball game.

The game remained close throughout, as neither team separated itself after three quarters of play.

However, that all changed in the fourth quarter with Jemison outscoring Thorsby with its size down low.

“It was all about pressure on defense,” Jemison head coach Robert George said.

Jemison made its presence known of the boards throughout the contest, but especially in the final eight minutes with timely offensive rebounds and put backs for Kiara Steele, Maria Abarca-Flores and Cassani Steele.

“They’re buying in and they believe in what we’re doing,” George said. “They are coachable and that makes a big difference.”

The Steele’s created quite the headache for the Rebels, who were able to manage Jemison’s size advantage fairly well until the final quarter.

Limiting turnovers and playing better defense have been two factors that head coach Robert George has worked on in practice. The results were there on Thursday night.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but we took care of the ball and handled the press better,” George said. “We try to just get better with every game.”

Cassani Steele finished with a game-high 18 points, while Kiara Steele added 14.

Lilly Barnett led the Rebels with 12 points, while Kerri Robinson had 11 including a pair of first half 3-pointers.

“When you’re only three miles apart, it makes it a big deal,” George said.