Hughes Reaches 1000 As Panthers Lose On The Road

By Wright Hogsed

Friday, January 17th, the 16-2 Union County Panthers traveled to Lakeview Fort-Oglethorpe High School to take on a region opponent in the 11-6 LFO Warriors. The Panthers looked to grow their nine-game winning streak to ten against the Warriors, but LFO had other plans. The first quarter was back and forth, with the Panthers finishing the quarter with the lead 20-17 behind two big three-pointers from Senior SG #34 Hayden Hughes.

Both teams’ offenses slowed down in the second quarter, with the Warriors outscoring the Panthers 12-9 and tying the game at halftime with a score of 29-29. Hughes led all scorers at the half with nine points coming from beyond the three-point line.

The third quarter would begin with LFO jumping out on the Panthers and not letting up the whole quarter as they outscored the Panthers 26-17. LFO Junior SF #5 Jared Mitchell would lead the Warriors’ run, scoring 11 of his 19 points in the third quarter and giving LFO the lead heading into the fourth, 55-46.

The fourth quarter saw an offensive explosion from both teams, but not enough for the Panthers to regain the lead. They outscored LFO 33-30 in the fourth but fell to the Warriors 85-79. This loss puts the Panthers at 16-3 on the season and 8-2 in Region 7 AA, as the Warriors improve to 12-6 and 6-4 in Region 7 AA.

Union County’s high scorers in the game were Hughes with 19 points, Henry with 16, and Young with 15. Other contributors included Marevka (10 points), Combs (9 points), Payne (7 points), and Hogsed (3 points).

In the loss, a huge achievement was accomplished by the game’s high scorer, as Union County’s Hayden Hughes reached 1000 career points. He becomes the second Panther to do so this year, behind Senior PG #2 Houston Henry. This season, Hughes has achieved this feat of 1000 points while also breaking the all-time three-point record for Union County, which Union County legend Michael Ross previously held.

Hughes and the Panthers look ahead to another region matchup on Wednesday, January 22nd, as they return home to face region opponent the 12-7 Coahulla Creek Colts, whom Union previously beat at Coahulla Creek 53-49.