Panthers lose 3rd straight close game @ North Hall 56-47

Gainesville, Georgia- The Union County Panthers basketball team traveled to North Hall to take on the Trojans in a non region matchup.

First Quarter

Lake Hughes got the Panthers on the board immediately with a 3 pointer to take an early 3-0 lead. The Trojans scored and picked up a foul. The Trojans missed the following free throw. Hughes made another 3 pointer, his second of the quarter, to give the Panthers a 6-2 lead. Ellis was fouled and made 1/2 free throws to extend the Panther lead to 7-2. The Trojans responded and cut the lead to 7-4. Following 2 straight Panther turnovers, the Trojans scored 4 straight points to take the lead to 8-7. Eli Underwood was fouled but missed both free throws. Underwood was fouled again and made 1/2 free throws to tie the game at 8. The Trojans retook the lead 10-8 after rebounding a miss and scoring. Caleb John was fouled after getting a steal and taking it to the basket but missed both free throws. After both teams took turns missing shots and turning the ball over, Austin Taylor made a fadeaway floater to tie the game at 10. The game was tied 10-10 at the end of the first quarter.

Second Quarter

Following a steal by Ellis, Underwood got the rebound and scored to give the Panthers a 12-10 lead. After a foul, the Trojans made 1/2 free throws to cut the lead to 12-11. Underwood scored again to give the Panthers a 14-11 lead. The Trojans made a 3 pointer to tie the game at 14. Following another foul, the Trojans made 1/2 free throws to take a 15-14 lead. The Trojans made another 3 pointer to take a 18-14 lead. Ellis was fouled and made both free throws to cut the deficit to 18-16. The Trojans scored and extended their lead to 20-16. Hughes stole the ball and assisted Houston Henry as he scored a layup to cut the deficit to 20-18, but the Trojans immediately responded and scored to take a 22-18 lead that forced the Panthers to call timeout. The Panthers quickly broke the Trojans full court press and Hughes scored to cut the deficit to 22-20. After a Panther turnover, the Trojans scored to extend their lead to 24-20. After a foul, the Trojans made 1/2 free throws to make the score 25-20. Hayden Payne was fouled and made both free throws to cut the deficit to 25-22. The Panthers trailed 25-22 at halftime.

Third Quarter

To begin the 2nd half, John stole the ball and took it all the way to the basket and scored to make the score 25-24. Ellis made a 3 to give the Panthers a 27-25 lead. The Trojans responded and tied the game at 27. The Trojans retook the lead 29-27, after making 2 free throws. After a missed 3, the Trojans scored again to extend the lead to 31-27. After both teams missed a couple of shots, the Trojans scored again and made the following free throw after picking up a foul to extend their lead to 34-27. Following a Trojan turnover, John scored and was fouled. John missed the free throw but got the rebound and scored to make the score 34-31. Austin Taylor was fouled and missed both free throws but Henry got the rebound and scored to cut the deficit to 34-33. The Trojans responded with a mid range jumper to extend their lead to 36-33. Ellis was fouled and made both free throws to cut the lead to 36-35. Following a steal, John scored and gave the Panthers a 37-36 lead. Ellis was fouled after another steal and made both free throws to extend the lead to 39-36. The Trojans tied the game at 39 after making a 3. Taylor responded with a 3 to give the Panthers a 42-39 lead. The Panthers led 42-39 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

Fourth Quarter

The Trojans scored first to begin the fourth quarter to make the score 42-41. The Trojans scored again to retake the lead 43-42. The Trojans extended their lead to 45-42 after making 2 free throws. Ellis scored to cut the deficit to 45-44. Henry scored to give the Panthers the lead 46-45. The Trojans scored to retake the lead 47-46 and then scored again to extend their lead to 49-46. The Trojans would extend their lead to 51-46 after a Panther turnover and force the Panthers to call timeout. The Panthers would start to foul to try and get extra possessions and try and win the game but the Trojans would pull away and win 56-47. The Panthers fall to 1-4 on the season. The Panthers host Lumpkin County on Thursday and travel to White County on Friday.