Panthers Battle at Nicholas County

On Monday night December 17th the Augusta Panthers took their 4 game winning streak to Carlisle to face the Nicholas County Bluejackets.  The game was to be much tighter than expected.  In the 1st quarter points weren't too hard to come by as the teams combined for 37 points.  Augusta led after the first 8 minutes, 20-17.  In the 2nd quarter Nicholas County took advantage of some Panther foul trouble and poor defense to light it up for 21 points while holding Augusta to only 11.  Bluejackets guard Landon Sexton even banked in a 3 at the buzzer to give Nicholas County all the momentum going to the half, 38-31.  Augusta would bounce back in the 3rd quarter as the two squads would be tied as we started the 4th quarter.  Early in the quarter Nicholas County would seize the momentum but the Panthers weren't about to give up.  They stepped up their pressure and started to get some transition buckets to keep it close.  With less than 2 minutes to go the Bluejackets held a 61-55 lead and seemed to be in control but Augusta clawed back again and were down 66-65 with 23 ticks on the clock.  Panther guard Tanner Kelsch got a steal near midcourt and found Connor Maddox for the go ahead basket that put Augusta up for good.  Camryn Snapp would add 2 free throws for the final margin, 69-66.  The Panthers improved to 7-1 with their 5th straight win.  Dustin Freeman led the Panthers with a career high 20 points.  Tanner Kelsch added 19 points and Brent Bach finished with 13. 

     "We got lucky tonight, had to sweat this one out," said Coach Hinson, "I'm not sure we deserved to win this one but will gladly take it."

Scoring vs. Nicholas County:  Freeman 20, Kelsch 19, Bach 13, Maddox 9, Snapp 8