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From Staff Reports

 

JACKSON, GA – After getting off to a really slow start in this game, the Americus-Sumter Panthers (ASHS) started to play their style of basketball. Once they got going, they took control of the contest and rolled the Jackson Red Devils 52-22 on Tuesday, January 26, at Jackson High School (JHS).

To say that ASHS struggled offensively in the first quarter could be seen as an understatement. After one quarter of play, the Panthers had only two points on the scoreboard and trailed the Red Devils 7-2.
However, ASHS woke up in the second quarter and outscored JHS 15-6. While the Panthers’ offense woke up, according to ASHS Head Coach Johnny Genwright, the defense was still not quite up to ASHS standards.

Another thing that made things more difficult for ASHS was forward Keldrick Flemming getting into foul trouble in the second quarter.

“In the second half, we got it together,” said Genwright. “They (JHS) only scored nine points in the second half.” The Red Devils had awoken a “Sleeping Giant” or in this case, “Sleeping Panthers”. ASHs dominated the second half, outscoring JHS 25-9 to secure their 30-point victory.

Jordan Wiley led ASHS in scoring with 10 points and Darion Mitchell scored nine. Both Flemming and John Monts each scored eight points for the Panthers in the winning cause.
With the win, ASHS improves to 11-3 overall on the season and is in first place in the Region 2-AAA standings at 8-1.

The Panthers will now turn their attention to the second act of this year’s Battle of the Flint”. They will cross the Flint River into Cordele on Friday, January 29, to take on Crisp County (9-7, 6-5 Region 2-AAA) in a rematch of these two long-standing rivals. In the last meeting between these two teams, the Panthers defeated the Cougars 64-63 in a thriller at the Panther Den back on Saturday, January 16.