Lady Bobcats Return To Class A State Tournament

by Rusty Ellis

It’s been almost three calendar years since the Pickett County Lady Bobcats played their last state tournament game, and that streak will come to an end this week when they take the floor at the Murphy Center after defeating Whitwell 51-48 on Saturday night.

It certainly didn’t come easy for head coach Brent Smith and his team, as resiliency was once again key in his young team pulling out a big win in front of the Bobcat faithful.

“Everything’s a bonus from here,” Smith said. “We came out on fire at the start tonight, and then we cooled off and it turned into a real back-and-forth game against a really good team in Whitwell…we finally took the lead back in the fourth, and again, I’m just real proud of how much these kids fought for this win.”

If you’d told Smith back in January that his team would be in position, odds are he likely wouldn’t have been so sure about it. After finding some leadership on a young team however, he says that was the catalyst that got the Lady Bobcats rolling.

“We don’t have any seniors, so we just looked for leadership and for roles to develop,” Smith said. “We’ve figured out our roles and that’s why I feel like we’ve really flourished in tournament time…everybody understands their roles now and we’ve been able to move forward. Everyone bonds and it’s made the whole team tighter.”

Now the games mean just a little more, but make no mistake. Just because this current rendition of the Lady Bobcats hasn’t made an appearance at the Glass House doesn’t mean they haven’t played in big games.

“We’ve got young kids, but the thing is they’ve been in tight games before,” Smith said. “Hopefully that pays off this coming week…whatever happens, I think this team is one that has shown a lot of resiliency and I think that will help us down the stretch here.”

And of course, Smith is excited to see just how much Byrdstown brings it in terms of support on Wednesday.

“Tonight, we had a great crowd and it meant a lot to us,” Smith said. “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about people showing up this time around…I think this is going to help us, having a crowd like that. They are hungry just like we are, and of course that’ll help us.”