by Rusty Ellis
The Pickett County Bobcats battled for 32 minutes, but fell just short against East Robertson in the Region 4-A Championship on Thursday night.
Things looked grim early, as East Robertson stormed out to a 10-4 lead early, but the Bobcats fought back and tie the game with a circus jump-shot from Jacob Amonett to end the quarter with a 12-12 score.
The scored would remain tied at 23-all at the half, and East Robertson took the first end-of-quarter lead at the end of the third by a slim 35-33 margin. There however, the size and defensive pressure took over for East, and it led to a six-point lead late in the fourth.
Pickett closed the game with a layup at the buzzer from Gage Harris, but fell just short of the Region 4-A Championship 47-43, meaning they will now have to go on the road on Monday for their substate game.
Amonett led the way with 18 points, while Eli Reagan added 15 points for the Bobcats. While it’s not the result they wanted, head coach Joseph Amonett says he was proud of the way the team battled.
“I thought we played well, and I think we’re playing really well as a team right now,” Amonett said. “The game got really physical in the second half, and we needed to be able to get to the foul line when it got really physical, and the difference in the ball-game is that we just weren’t able to.”
For a team that lost five of its top six players to graduation, the Bobcats have come quite a long way from the start of the season to Thursday night, and Amonett says he’s enjoyed coaching them every step of the way.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Amonett said. “This is a team that is full of overlooked and underappreciated players. They’ve played their tails off all year, they’ve gotten better all year. They love playing with each other and they’ve got a lot of heart. They do a lot of things you can’t measure. We’re one game away from going to Murfreesboro, so we’re excited about Monday night.”
The team will hit the road to take on Chattanooga Prep, who are fresh off of a 72-57 win over Van Buren. The main thing Amonett is focused on right now is getting healthy ahead of Monday night’s showdown.
“We’re tired, but I think this team is focused,” Amonett said. “I think the biggest thing this team can do is get physically rested. If we do that, we’ll be ready to go on Monday.”
