By Michael Lindsay
The White County Warriors got back in the win column Friday evening as they defeated rival #4 Cookeville in front of a packed Roy Sewell Gymnasium, 66-57.
“I’m just tickled to death for these guys,” said White County head coach Eric Mitchell. “Playing in front of a crowd like that with that student body supporting them, they’ve got to feel very fortunate.”
White County (10-7) had lost five consecutive games before Friday’s win over Cookeville (11-5).
“They battled; we’ve had probably the toughest 8-game stretch in a while,” Mitchell said. “The third quarter’s killed us all year, but we came out tonight and battled the third quarter. Cookeville’s well-coached and they’ve got a dog in Josh Heard. They’ve got the pieces around him, and their defense is incredible.”
White County was led by Tomas Paul, who poured in 22 points in the victory. Christian Henderson also hit double-figures with 10 points.
Cookeville’s Josh Heard led the Cavaliers with 19 points, followed by Jack Oakley and Jalen Heard with 14 each.
White County held a narrow 13-10 lead after the first quarter. Neither team was able to pull away in the second as Cookeville took a 28-27 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter mirrored the first half as neither team held more than a 5-point lead during the frame. White County held a slim 43-42 advantage going into the fourth quarter.
The three-point line was the difference early in the fourth period as White County hit 5 treys in the final quarter.
“Tonight it was great,” Mitchell said. “In the fourth quarter, we strung together a few plays, got a lead and were able to hold on.”
White County pushed their lead out to 6 points (54-48) via a Thomas Brock three-pointer with 4:50 remaining.
Cookeville’s Heard answered with a layup, but the Warriors responded again from the three-point line as Paul buried a three with 4:07 remaining to put the Warriors up 57-50.
Cookeville would get no closer than 4 points down the stretch as White County closed the fourth quarter from the free-throw line, going 8-9 in the final period to win by a 66-57 final.
Up next, White County gets about 23 hours off as they travel to Van Buren County tonight (Saturday) for a non-district contest against the Eagles (10-5).
Cookeville is off until Tuesday as they start District 5-4A play at Green Hill (10-5).
White County (66): Tomas Paul 22, Christian Henderson 10, Thomas Brock 9, Tripp Pinion 8, Japheth Richmond 7, Jackson Young 6, Jake Davis 4
Cookeville (57): Josh Heard 19, Jack Oakley 14, Jalen Heard 14, Bennett Reeves 7, DJ Potts-Heard 3
