By MICHAEL MURRAY

WARNER ROBINS – Americus-Sumter High School (ASHS) has been abuzz for the past week as the Panther gridiron team’s second-round playoff appearance approached.
Panther fans have something else to be proud of, however. Both of ASHS’ basketball teams, the Panthers and the Lady Panthers, hit the road for Warner Robins on Nov. 14 to engage in scrimmage matches against Northside High School, of Warner Robins.
In a brief glimpse of the action to come, the Panthers defeated the Eagles 82-46 in their preseason tilt, while the Lady Panthers ran neck and neck with the Lady Eagles, eventually falling 56-489 in overtime.
The Panthers put up quite a performance on the hardwood, despite the fact that the team was short several key players, who were diligently preparing for Friday’s football match-up against the Thomson Bulldogs.
Even with their limited roster, the Panthers were able to dominate the competition from the beginning, tossing 20 points on the board in both the first and second quarters while holding their opponents to only 21 points in the first half. The ASHS boys tacked on another 17 points in the third frame and caught fire in the final period to add 25 points to their tally. In the meantime, the Eagles scored 13 points in the third quarter and capped it off with a 12-point fourth stanza to suffer the 36-point defeat.
ASHS senior, Eric Hall Jr. was a driving force for the Panthers in the tilt, contributing 21 points to the Panther win. Hall was on-point from beyond the arc, dialing in from long-range to sink three of three three-point attempts. Hall also brought down five rebounds match while dishing out 10 assists and snagging one steal.
Several other Panthers joined Hall in the double-digit scoring club, including Traveon Brown and Eric Aldridge, who both tossed in 13. Joshua Lusane added another 12 points and A’Jarrian Banks hit five of six shot attempts to tack on 10.
Traveon Brown added a pair of three-pointers to the win.
Derrick Watfors led the team in rebounds with seven total and Aldridge picked up six more.
Lusane also added a pair of blocks for the Panther cause.
Details of the Lady Panthers’ preseason test were not available at press time.
Both the Panthers and the Lady Panthers returned to their home court to open the regular season against Lee County. The results of these match-ups were not available at press time.
The Panthers and Lady Panthers will return to action next week, traveling to Albany to participate in the Monroe Thanksgiving Shootout.
The Panthers will be squaring off against Dougherty County on Nov. 24 at 6:30 p.m. and will return to face Monroe the following day at 8:30 p.m.
The Lady Panthers will battle Dougherty County on Nov. 25 at 4:00 p.m.