By Michael Lindsay
The Red Boiling Springs Bulldogs (4-20, 2-6) traveled to Byrdstown Thursday evening and left with a 62-50 victory over District 7A foe Pickett County (14-11, 3-5).
“We’re a lot better than that record shows,” said RBS head coach Andrew Mullinix. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m proud of my guys.”
After starting the year 1-18, Red Boiling Springs has won 3 of their last 5 games.
“We play a tough schedule for a school with 177 kids,” Mullinix said. “In early November we’re not going to look very good, but by February we’re going to be the best we can be. Hopefully, we continue to trend in the right direction.”
Red Boiling Springs forward Colton Copas has a complete performance Thursday as he scored 27 points offensively while defending Pickett County point guard Jacob Amonett defensively.
“I put my big (Copas) on their guard Amonett, and I thought he would do a pretty good job,” Mullinix said. “They (Pickett) shoot it really well, and on another night they may make some of those. Overall, I was really proud of our defensive attention to detail.”
Chris Hackney and Joe Birdwell also hit double figures for the Bulldogs as they scored 11 points each.
Amonett led Pickett County with 14, followed by Gage Harris with 11.
Red Boiling Springs came out hot from the start as a Hackney three-pointer put RBS up 14-6 late in the first period.
The Bulldogs pushed their lead to double digits with 1:08 left in the second period as Riley Thompson sank two free throws to put his team ahead 32-21. RBS held a 34-23 advantage at halftime.
Red Boiling Springs extended their lead to 16 points (39-23) with 5:59 left in the third period via a Copas and-one.
Pickett County responded and cut Red Boiling Springs’ lead back to single digits (39-31) with 4:26 left in the third period before the Bulldogs pushed their advantage back out to 51-38 by the end of the third quarter.
Red Boiling Springs held off Pickett in the fourth quarter as the Bulldogs never surrendered their double-digit lead to win in the Bobcat Den, 62-50.
“That’s impressive for this group,” Mullinix said. “We’ve lost 3 games this year by 2 points or less. We’ve still got to make some free throws down the stretch.”
Pickett County wrapped up regular season play with Thursday’s game while RBS hosts Monterey (18-12) tonight.
Red Boiling Springs (62): Colton Copas 27, Chris Hackney 11, Joe Birdwell 11, Aubrey Link 9, Riley Thompson 4
Pickett County (50): Jacob Amonett 14, Gage Harris 11, Kaiden Thomas 9, Payne Burton 4, Lyric Parris 4, Eli Reagan 4, Caden Miller 2, Dylan Anderson 2
