By Michael Lindsay
Pickett County made the trip south to Crossville Friday evening as they split a pair of non-district games against Cumberland County. The Lady Jets overcame a double-digit deficit to defeat the Lady Bobcats 55-52 while the Pickett boys took down the Jets, 54-43.
Girls
Cumberland County completed their season sweep of Pickett County as they picked up their second win of the season over the Lady Bobcats, 55-52.
Friday’s game was a stark contrast from their season opener in Byrdstown that the Lady Jets won 65-31.
“I knew that this was the Pickett County team we’d see,” said CCHS head coach Kim Cram-Torres. “They’re a really good team; they’re tough and they really made us work tonight.”
Four Lady Jets hit double figures as senior Jalynn Baldwin led the way with 13, followed by Lexi Carol with 12, Lauren Clark with 11 and Sydney Wilhite with 10.
“Jalynn never got rattled,” Cram said. “We told her we needed her to establish herself in the paint, and she did that.”
Emmy Lowe led Pickett County with 17 points, followed by Zoey Nicholas with 15.
Pickett County controlled the early portions of Friday’s game as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead via a Callie Reeder layup with 2:09 remaining in the first quarter.
The Lady Bobcats led 13-4 after one period and pushed their lead to double digits early in the second as Emmy Lowe scored in transition to put her team ahead 15-4.
“Some of our kids came into today with some unneeded pressure,” said Cram. “Once they settled down, that really helped matters. I don’t think we do anything intricate; once we handled their first push at us, we were fine.”
Cumberland County found their rhythm offensively from that point as they answered with a 13-2 run over the next 4 minutes to tie the contest at 17 via a Baldwin basket with 3:40 remaining until halftime.
The Lady Jets broke through on their next possession as a Carol free throw gave them an 18-17 lead. Pickett County battled back to take a 23-20 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half before Carol drained a three-pointer to tie the contest at 23 at halftime.
Cumberland County took control in the third quarter as the Lady Jets opened the second half on a 15-5 run to take a 38-28 lead over Pickett Count with 2:08 remaining in the third period.
The Lady Jets led 43-36 entering the fourth quarter and pushed their lead out to 12 points (55-43) with 4:08 remaining.
Pickett County wasn’t done yet as the Lady Bobcats went on a 9-0 run over the next 2 minutes to cut their lead to one possession (55-52) with 2:08 remaining.
The Lady Bobcats held Cumberland County scoreless over the final 2 minutes and had two three-pointers in the final 8 seconds, but neither shot fell as the Lady Jets held on to their 55-52 victory over Pickett County.
Cumberland County (55): Jalynn Baldwin 13, Lexi Carol 12, Lauren Clark 11, Sydney Wilhite 10, Aliyah Hawkins 7
Pickett County (52): Emmy Lowe 17, Zoey Nicholas 15, Callie Reeder 10, Ella Keisling 7, Allie Amonett 5
Boys
The Pickett County Bobcats overcame a hot start by Cumberland County to defeat the Jets, 54-43.
“We knew it would be a tough game,” said Pickett County head coach Joseph Amonett. “They (Cumberland County) had a big win against Clarkrange on Tuesday so we knew they’d be really high and play well. We probably weren’t up for them like we should’ve been after being so focused on Stone on Tuesday. Give them credit; they had a really good game.”
Bobcat point guard Jacob Amonett posted 15 points to lead his team, followed by Eli Reagan with 12 and Nathaniel Cobb with 9. Cumberland County was led by a 17-point performance from Huston Torres.
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It was Cumberland County who came out hot Friday as an Andrew Dennis three-pointer gave the Jets an 11-4 lead less than four minutes into the game.
“We just had to keep playing our game and couldn’t panic,” said coach Amonett.
Pickett County answered with an 8-0 run over the next 2:30 to take a 12-11 lead via a Reagan basket. Cumberland County battled back to take a 16-15 lead after one quarter.
The Bobcats locked in defensively in the second quarter as they outscored Cumberland County 11-5 to take a 26-21 halftime lead.
The Jets took control of the early portions of the second half as a Torres three-pointer put his team ahead 35-31 with 2:45 remaining in the third period.
CCHS led 38-37 entering the fourth quarter and quickly went ahead 41-37 via a Dennis three-pointer on the first possession of the frame.
Pickett County answered with a 10-2 run over the next 4:30 to take a 47-41 lead with 2 minutes remaining.
“This team has a lot of resilience,” coach Amonett said. “These kids play hard and don’t get shook.”
A Sol Sitton layup got Cumberland County within 4 points (47-43) with 1:52 to go, but Pickett County closed out strong at the free-throw line from there as the Bobcats held on to win 54-43.
“We made some good decisions and Jacob made some big plays for us down the stretch,” said coach Amonett. “Eli made some big plays, and those two kids have been in there a long time. Nathaniel Cobb grew up a little tonight as a freshman.”
The Bobcats improve to 5-1 overall with the victory while Cumberland County falls to 1-4. Pickett County is scheduled to host Chattanooga Prep on Monday while the Jets have a week off before traveling to Walker Valley.
Pickett County (54): Jacob Amonett 15, Eli Reagan 12, Nathaniel Cobb 9, Gage Harris 8, Lyric Parris 6, Caden Miller 3, Kaiden Thomas 1
Cumberland County (43): Huston Torres 17, Andrew Dennis 12, Ethan Dixon 7, Sol Sitton 5, Nolen Carter 2
