Blairsville, Georgia- On Tuesday night, the Union County Panthers hosted the Towns County Indians for both teams’ first game of the season. The Panthers lost a lot of key seniors but have a lot of younger players that have a lot of experience from last year. The Indians have gained some additional players due to North Carolina canceling fall sports. Expect to see the Indians do some big things this year.

To begin the game, both teams turned the ball over twice. Union got on the board first with Junior Landon Kight making both free throws. Towns came right back down the court and tied it with a layup and took the lead with the and-1 free-throw by Junior Jake McTaggert. Towns would stay attacking the basket but miss their next few shots. Kight made a nice move in the post to get the and-1 layup to put the Panthers up 5-3. On the next possession, McTaggert would block a layup and on a fast break, Junior Caleb John would have a huge block on the other end. McTaggert would score on the inbound play to tie it 5-5. The Indians would go up 8-5 and just as the buzzer went off, John would hit a huge 3 to tie things at 8 a piece to end the first quarter. It was a huge defensive battle with each team only allowing 8 points through the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Panthers kept things close during the beginning of the quarter but the Indians would slowly pull away, led by Senior Kabe Ellis and Senior Colton Day, with Ellis scoring 11 points and Day scoring 6. The Indians went on an 11-0 run to end the half. The Indians were up at the half 31-20. To start the 3rd quarter, the Indians would come out firing scoring 4 quick points and going up 16 points quick. The Indians would end up outscoring the Panthers 15-10 in the 3rd. The same would happen in the fourth, the Indians would keep their foot on the gas and go onto win 63-37. The Panthers fall to 0-1. The Panthers were led by Junior Caleb John and Junior Landon Kight.

The Panthers will host Gilmer County on Tuesday, December 1st.