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Prior to the East Middle basketball teams hosting South Middle, the school honored all eighth grade team members and cheerleaders. 

The Lady Panthers fell to the Lady Trojans 34-30. East was led by Gena Hickerson with 20 points, including 8 in the fourth quarter.

The first quarter began with a 6-0 run by South. The Panthers scored just 3 points in the quarter. Anabelle Smith scored 2 and Hickerson made a free throw.

East came out strong in the second, scoring the first 5 points of the quarter. They went on to tally 14 points in the quarter. Hickerson scored 6 points. Lexi Bryson added 4, including a put back after an offensive rebound. Rylee Ferguson and Diamond Blair each scored 2 points. The Lady Panthers went into halftime down 18-17.

The third quarter mirrored the first with a big Lady Trojan run to start the quarter. Hickerson ended the run and went on a 5-1 run of her own to end the quarter. South led 27-22 heading into the last quarter. South led 33-24 with around a minute left before Hickerson made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to six. On the next possession she hit a shot from the foul line. The second shot was missed but the Panthers got the rebound and called a timeout. After the timeout, Hickerson got the ball and made a shot while being fouled to make it 33-30. The Trojans got the rebound and were fouled with 8.7 seconds left in the game. They hit the second shot to make it a four point game and win 34-30.

The game was decided at the foul line with South going 14-of-28, while East went 4-of-16.

The Panthers came back to beat the Trojans 32-28 by winning the fourth quarter 9-2.

Colton Tinnon led the way scoring 14 points and racking up 8 blocks. Julius Jones added 9 points and 3 blocks.

Tinnon started scoring early with 4 first quarter points and Jones added the other 3 points. South scored 10 points to take a 10-7 lead into the second.

Tinnon continued to impose his will in the paint adding another 6 points. Landon Price made a free throw for the Panthers. The Trojans were held to only 5 points, cutting their lead to only one. East trailed 15-14 at halftime.

The third quarter was won by South 11-9. Tinnon scored 4 more points. Brody McShea drained a 3-pointer and Garrett Reed hit a layup. The Trojans led 26-23 after three quarters.

At the start of the fourth quarter the game came to a pause after an altercation began on the floor. Players had to be separated during the break, but no one was charged with a foul or technical. After the incident, the home crowd became very vocal cheering on the Panthers. After the break ,East closed the game on a 9-2 run. Tinnon and Jones blocked multiple shots from the Trojans in the paint. Jones added 6 points in the quarter and McShea sunk another 3.

The two teams will be back in action at Tullahoma High School tomorrow night as the home team against West Middle. The girls’ JV game starts at 4 p.m. with boys’ JV following and the girls’ varsity game tipping of at 6 p.m.