By Michael Lindsay
The Cookeville Cavaliers picked up an impressive non-district road victory Monday evening at York Institute, 62-55.
“Anytime you can go to York and win, that’s a big win,” said Cookeville coach Josh Heard. “Their fan base and gym are compact; it’s loud in there. It was a great game for us to learn from.”
The Cavaliers (14-10, 2-4) are without starters Dontae Potts-Heard and Jack Oakley, due to injury.
“To do that down two starters is big,” Heard added.
Cookeville’s Jaren Davis led the Cavaliers with 24 points, including 6 three-pointers.
“It’s awesome and a good thing for him,” Heard said. “He’s injured as well. If he lifted his jersey up, he’s wrapped up like a mummy. He’s playing through it, and for him to make those shots for us in the second half was big.”
Jalen Heard had 14 points while Joshua Heard posted 10.
Forward Bryson Bilbrey led York Institute (15-10, 4-1) with 20 points.
The Dragons held a narrow lead in the early portions of the game as they led 13-10 after one quarter.
The Cavaliers broke through and took a 19-17 lead with 3:22 remaining until halftime via a Joshua Heard transition layup. Cookeville held a 24-23 lead at halftime.
The Cavaliers came out red-hot in the second half as they outscored York Institute 20-6 in the third period. Davis hit 4 three-pointers in the period.
“In the first half we got great looks, we just missed them,” coach Hears said. “Luckily, our defense stayed intact. In the second half, we got those same looks and they fell for us. That 20-6 run was big for us.”
Cookeville held a commanding 44-29 advantage going into the fourth period. The Cavaliers pushed their lead out to 20 points (51-31) via a thunderous Joshua Heard dunk with 6:05 remaining.
Monday’s game was far from over at that point, however. Facing a 22-point deficit with 5:25 remaining, York caught fire from three-point range and went on an 18-3 run over the next 4:15 to cut Cookeville’s lead to 54-49. Dragon guard Blaine York hit 3 three-pointers during the run.
“We started to feel ourselves a little; we got up big and had a big dunk by Josh,” coach Heard said. “We got complacent; we lost our focus on defense and had to buckle back down.”
Cookeville made a key stop with 1:07 remaining as Alex Clark took a charge to give the Cavaliers the ball back. Cookeville took advantage as Davis hit two free throws with 59.8 seconds remaining to push his team’s lead back out to 7, 56-49.
Cookeville took care of business at the free-throw line in the final minute to preserve their 62-55 victory.
The Cavaliers have a few days to heal as they travel to Wilson Central on Friday for District 9-4A play. York Institute is back in action tonight as they host District 5AA foe Monterey.
Cookeville (62): Jaren Davis 24, Jalen Heard 14, Josh Heard 10, Alex Clark 8, Jack Clark 2, Lucas Smith 2, Bennett Reeves 2
York Institute (55): Bryson Bilbrey 20, Blaine York 11, Heath Wattenbarger 9, Jackson Conatser 6, Myles Leffew 5, Will Beaty 4
