The East Panthers celebrate Monday's double-overtime win over Coffee County.

What turned out to be a thrill-a-minute contest late looked like anything but that in the first half as both teams struggled to score. East led 12-10 at intermission, but in the second half the Panthers turned up the defensive pressure and set a fast pace that was more to their liking. It was 24-20 Coffee County after three quarters, and it looked like the Raiders had it put away late, but missed free throws by the home team and a pair of successful free throws by Rippy opened the door for Rippy to tie it at the buzzer with a three-pointer that went through the net as the buzzer sounded.

It was 33-33 at the end of regulation and the two teams went back and forth through two overtimes until Rippy again connected on a three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in the game.

Rippy and 7th-grader Marquel Hickerson led the way with 14 points each, and Marvin Gardner had 11 for the Panthers.

Panthers (46) Alex Rice, 4; Ryan Rippy, 14; Marvin Gardner, 11; Sebastian Charboneau, 2; Trey Burks, 1; Marquel Hickerson, 14.
Coffee County (43) Kirby, 1; Duke, 2; Henegar, 4; Ruhl, 11; Harris, 19; Davis, 6.

Coffee County 44 Lady Panthers 24
The East Lady Panthers played a solid game until late in the third quarter when Coffee County started to stretch what was a single-digit lead into the eventual 20-point margin.

Tristan Stephens applies defensive pressure during Monday's game.

It was 19-14 Coffee County at the half, but after an OK start to the third quarter, someone put a lid on the basket on the Lady Panther end and the point production dried up. East would have only two points in the fourth quarter and 10 in the second half as the Lady Raiders raced away with the season-opening win.

East coach Chris Wilkins said he felt his team showed a lot of potential, but it has a lot of work to do on fundamentals.

Natalie Rayfield led the East offense with 12 points, including eight in the first half.

Lady Panthers (24) Natalie Rayfield, 12; Brooke Eaggleston, 2; Caitlin Olive, 4; Elizabeth Hatch, 2; Tristan Stephens, 2; Jocelyn Wells, 2.
Coffee County (44) Tate, 5; Jackie Shelton, 12; Taylor, 4; Perry, 2; Niki Campbell, 19; Claybournee, 2.