By Michael Lindsay
The Cumberland County Lady Jets picked up a key early season win Tuesday evening at Clarkrange as they defeated the Lady Buffaloes, 55-41.
The win is Cumberland County’s first victory at Clarkrange since November 2017.
“Our seniors really wanted to win up here, and that was a big goal,” said CCHS head coach Kim Cram-Torres. “They didn’t want to just win, they wanted to play well, and they accomplished that. It’s a big deal; Lamar Rogers is the winningest coach in Tennessee.”
Leading Cumberland County was senior point guard Emery Baragona, who scored 24 points in the victory.
“She was really good tonight,” Cram-Torres said. “We’ve talked to her about being complete and having a high basketball IQ. Nobody talks enough about IQ and tonight she had that.”
Also hitting double-figures for the Lady Jets was Abby Houston with 11 points. Sophomore guard Aliyah Hawkins chipped in 9 also.
Addy Stowers led the Lady Buffaloes with 11 points, followed by Chloe Rogers and Kacey Sells with 8 each.
Clarkrange hit the ground running as they took a quick 6-0 lead over the Lady Jets. Cumberland County quickly responded as the Lady Jets led 20-9 after one quarter.
“We talked about getting off to a great start,” Cram-Torres said. “We knew Clarkrange would come out and be aggressive. They hit two threes and we were down 6-0, then we went on a 23-3 run. Our response was fantastic.”
Cumberland County pushed their lead out to 16 points by halftime at 36-20.
In the second half, Clarkrange made a late surge but Cumberland County withstood the run to win by a final score of 55-41.
“Clarkrange just doesn’t quit; they’re going to fight and there’s a lot of pride here,” Cram-Torres said. “They went on their spurts, and we did a great job of handling that.”
The 4-1 Lady Jets aren’t done in Fentress County this week as they play at York Institute on Friday.
“We have York next,” Cram-Torres said. “They’re a great team and will be very prepared. It’ll be a great test for us.”
Clarkrange falls to 4-3 and hits the road to Monterey on Friday for non-district action.
Cumberland County (55): Emery Baragona 24, Abby Houston 11, Aliyah Hawkins 9, Jalynn Baldwin 4, Grace Baldwin 4, Jorja Anderson 3
Clarkrange (41): Addy Stowers 11, Chloe Rogers 8, Kacey Sells 8, Mattie Bush 5, Lauren Choate 5, Kady Hopkins 4
