Photos by Allen and Rose Earl The Panther Cheerleaders perform on the sideline during a break in the regional tournament game, held Saturday at Elizabethton.

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Photos by Allen and Rose Earl Trevor Graves of the Panthers looks to attack the Cyclone defense.

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The Elizabethton Cyclones defeated the Cumberland Gap Panthers 67-42 during the opening round of the 2013 Region One tournament.

The Cyclones entered the tournament as the number one seed, while the Panthers were a four seed.

Elizabethton took little time placing points on the scoreboard, going up by 11 points after one period of play.

The Panthers trailed 31-21 at the half.

Trevor Graves stepped up his play during the third period, but the Panthers failed to match the size of Elizabethton.

Nathan Hatmaker led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points and eight rebounds. Trevor Graves scored eight, while Isaac Daniels dropped in five. Blake Franklin scored three points and pulled down five rebounds. Lake Arnold and Matt Wade both scored three, while Jordan Bullins, Tyler Parker and Austin Anderson scored two each.

The loss ended the Panther basketball season, but Coach Ernie Clawson said he was still proud of his team.

“We fought hard tonight and the kids didn’t quit. We struggled to shoot the basketball against a team that has a real good chance to go deep in the state tournament,” he said.

“Looking back on this season we fought hard and this team gave me everything they had,” he said. “We struggled at the end of the season and I’ll take responsibility for that, but this is a group of good kids. I’ll miss my seniors.”