By Michael Lindsay
Thanksgiving basketball in Byrdstown wrapped up Saturday night with a pair of victories for the hometown teams as Pickett County swept Smith County in the final two games of the People’s Bank/Amonett Eagle Auction Thanksgiving Classic.
Girls
The Pickett County Lady Bobcats picked up their third consecutive victory Saturday evening as a hot shooting night led them to a 72-36 victory over Smith County.
“That’s the way we want to play; fast and uptempo,” said Pickett County head coach Brent Smith. “When you’re running the floor like we were, it’s easy.”
The Lady Bobcats hit 8 three-pointers in Saturday’s victory led by Addy Lowe with 5, who scored a team-high 17 points off the bench in the victory. Emmy Lowe had 16 points along with 15 from Callie Reeder.
“Addy Lowe came off the bench shooting it really well,” Smith said. “It was a regiment out there shooting it. But what really got us going was getting to the basket and getting some turnovers.”
The Lady Owls were led by Airyn Enoch with 13 points and Merissa Spivey with 10.
Smith County went basket for basket with Pickett County through the early portions of the first quarter as Pickett held a 9-8 lead early. The Lady ‘Cats pushed their lead to 6 points by the end of the first period via an Emmy Lowe jumper with 45 seconds left in the opening frame, giving Pickett an 18-12 lead entering the second quarter.
Pickett County kept the defensive pressure turned up in the second quarter as they outscored Smith County 21-6 in the frame to take a 39-18 lead into halftime.
“I think a lot of it is our conditioning,” Smith said. “We’re used to playing that way. We’ve been working really hard conditioning wise and we have a lot of weapons for Class A.”
Pickett County kept things rolling in the second half as they held a 52-28 lead after three quarters before winning by a 72-35 final to improve to 3-1 overall. The Lady Bobcats will host Stone Memorial on Tuesday.
“We’ll build off this one tonight,” Smith said. “We’ve got a tough challenge on Tuesday then we play Cumberland County again on Friday. We built our schedule this way and we want to be better at the end than we are now.”
Pickett County (72): Addy Lowe 17, Emmy Lowe 16, Callie Reeder 15, Ella Keisling 9, Zoey Nicholas 9, Kaylee Tompkins 4, Kylie Wood 2
Smith County (36): Airyn Enoch 13, Merissa Spivey 10, Emry Jones 6, Chloe Collins 3, Catie Bell McCarter 2, Mia Way 2
Boys
The Pickett County Bobcats closed out the evening with a 69-34 victory over Smith County behind 23 points from point guard Jacob Amonett.
“We played well,” said Pickett County head coach Joseph Amonett. “Smith County is obviously a really physical team, and I thought we were able to speed them up and handle their physicality. We didn’t shoot the ball exceptionally, but we were solid all around and played really good defense.
“We rebound by committee; last night (against Jellico), Jacob Amonett had 17 rebounds and Eli Reagan had 9, and it was kind of the same thing tonight,” coach Amonett added. “Nathaniel Cobb did a good job rebounding tonight.”
Along with Jacob Amonett’s 23 points, Gage Harris had 15 and Cobb scored 12.
Smith County was led by 8 points from Clayton Rigsby.
Pickett County took a 10-4 lead midway through the opening quarter via a Joseph Amonett three-pointer. The Bobcats led 16-9 at the end of the frame via a floater by Harris with 4 seconds remaining.
A Harris three-pointer on the first possession of the second quarter pushed his team’s lead to double digits (19-9) and the Bobcats never looked back as they outscored Smith County 24-12 in the period to lead 40-21 at halftime. Jacob Amonett had 10 second-quarter points including a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line.
“It’s a fun team to coach and watch,” said coach Amonett. “We share the basketball and execute on offense. We’re not perfect, but we have the next-pass mentality.”
Pickett County kept their foot on the gas in the second half as they led 54-29 after three quarters before winning by a 69-34 final.
The Bobcats improved to 4-0 with the win and have a key non-district game scheduled for Tuesday.
“We’re right where we need to be a couple of weeks into the season,” said coach Amonett. “We’re going to play what’s probably the best team we’ll play all year in Stone Memorial. They’re probably one of the top 3 teams in Class 3A; they have what it takes to win a state championship in 3A. It’ll be a great test for us.”
Pickett County (69): Jacob Amonett 23, Gage Harris 15, Nathaniel Cobb 12, Eli Reagan 8, Jace Altenes 3, Will Spears 2, Kaiden Thomas 2, Gavin Daniels 2, Max Moody 2
Smith County (34): Clayton Rigsby 8, Trenton Salmon 6, Rick Hembree 6, Peyton Hix 3, Riley Martin 3, Tyler Jones 2, Taylor Kemp 2, Gage Gibbs 2, Isaac Gentry 2
