By Michael Lindsay
The Cumberland County Jets and Lady Jets swept their regular-season finale Saturday evening as they earned a pair of wins over Clarkrange High School.
Cumberland County defeated the Lady Buffaloes, 68-49, while the Jet boys won 58-42.
GIRLS
Cumberland County (21-7, 8-4) wrapped up their regular season with a 19-point victory as the Lady Jets defeated Clarkrange (20-10, 5-3) on senior night, 68-49.
“I thought we were really focused; this ends a long week for us,” said Lady Jet head coach Kim Cram-Torres. “The girls were excited to get to game #3 and celebrate each other on senior night.”
Lady Jet junior forward Jalynn Baldwin led her team in scoring for the second time in 24 hours as she posted a game-high 22 points against the Lady Buffaloes.
“We knew Clarkrange had made some changes from earlier in the year,” Cram-Torres said. “They’ve gone to 5 guards and they can all shoot it. That will be great for them in the playoffs, but we knew we needed to pound the ball inside to Jalynn.”
Cumberland County’s seniors showed out on senior night as Abby Houston scored 18, Emery Baragona had 9 and Grace Baldwin and Jorja Anderson each posted 5 points.
Clarkrange was led by 16 points from Chloe Rogers and 13 by Addy Stowers.
The Lady Jets got off to a hot start as a Houston 3-pointer put them ahead 7-0 less than 2 minutes into the first quarter.
Baragona and Houston hit three-pointers late in the first period along with sophomore guard Aliyah Hawkins making a buzzer-beating layup to give the Lady Jets a 20-10 lead after the first period.
Cumberland County kept their foot on the gas as a Houston three-pointer put them up 30-11 with 4:15 remaining in the second quarter. CCHS held Clarkrange to 5 second-quarter points as they led 35-15 at halftime.
A strong third quarter saw the Lady Jets outscore Clarkrange 22-10 in the frame to lead 57-25 going into the fourth quarter where they closed out to win by a 68-49 final.
Clarkrange now turns its attention to the District 7-1A tournament as they’ll face Pickett County on Thursday.
The Lady Jets are the #3 seed in the District 7-3A tournament and host Stone Memorial in the first round on Tuesday.
“It gets harder from here,” Cram-Torres said. “Playing the schedule we’ve played has prepared us for that.”
Cumberland County (68): Jalynn Baldwin 22, Abby Houston 18, Emery Baragona 9, Aliyah Hawkins 9, Jorja Anderson 5, Grace Baldwin 5
Clarkrange (49): Chloe Rogers 16, Addy Stowers 13, Kacey Sells 10, Mattie Bush 8, Kady Hopkins 2
BOYS
The Cumberland County Jets (6-23, 3-9) avenged an earlier loss on Saturday as they defeated Clarkrange (5-26, 1-7), 58-42.
“The boys did a really good job; I don’t think we did as well as we could have in the first half,” said Cumberland County head coach Taylor Denney. “We came out in the second and upped our intensity level. It’s always good to send your seniors out with a win.”
Cumberland County senior point guard Braeden Woodard poured in 24 points to lead his team on senior night.
“He’s done a really good job the last few weeks shooting the basketball,” Denney said. “He’s looking like what we thought he’d look like in the preseason before those freak injuries. He never let it get him down and he kept battling.”
Each CCHS senior scored on senior night as Jaxon Reed had 13, Braden Leviner scored 10 and Braylon Burnett and Josh Sliger each scored 3 points.
“They’re a great group of guys,” Denney said. “They’ve all played their role and it was good to see them shine.”
Clarkrange was led by 12 points from Jack Cordell.
The Jets came out strong as a Reed three-pointer gave them a 10-2 lead with 2:35 left in the opening period. Woodard drained a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to give Cumberland County a 13-4 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
The Jets matched their first-quarter point total again in the second, but Clarkrange found their groove on the offensive end as CCHS led 26-19 at halftime.
Cumberland County pushed their lead out to double digits in the third quarter as they led 40-27 entering the fourth period.
Clarkrange opened the final frame with a quick 6-2 run to cut the Jets’ lead back to single digits, 42-33. Cumberland County responded with a Sol Sitton three-pointer and Leviner basket to go up 47-33 with 4:23 remaining. The Jets closed out strong from there to win by a 58-42 final score.
Both teams wrapped up regular season play on Saturday. Clarkrange is slated to face Red Boiling Springs in the District 7-1A play-in game while CCHS enters the District 7-3A tournament as the #6 seed and travels to #3 Upperman on Thursday.
“We wanted to be playing our best basketball at the end of the year, and I think we’ve done a good job of that,” Denney said. “Next week is win or go home.”
Cumberland County (58): Braeden Woodard 24, Jaxon Reed 13, Braden Leviner 10, Braylon Burnett 3, Josh Sliger 3, Sol Sitton 3
Clarkrange (42): Jack Cordell 12, Bryton Swallows 9, Lane Byrd 9, Kris Beaty 6, Collier Bush 6
