By Michael Lindsay
The Cumberland County Jets wrapped up their pre-Christmas late Friday evening as they defeated Gordonsville on their home court in the DTC Christmas Classic, 57-44.
“It was really big for us,” said Cumberland County head coach Taylor Denney. “We challenged the kids by playing a really good Kingston team on Tuesday then three games in three days here. Today was the best we’ve played in this tournament, so we’re happy to end it on a high note.
“The kids did a good job of executing whatever we called,” Denney said. “Coach Gregg Bibb does a really good job changing defenses, so we had to stay on our toes. Our kids did a great job communicating.”
Freshman point guard Huston Torres dropped 32 points in the victory, good for his third 30-point outburst through the first 11 games of his career.
Cumberland County’s Andrew Dennis also hit double-figures as he scored 12 points on 4 three-pointers. Gordonsville was led by 18 points from J Foster.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead before a Sol Sitton basket gave the Jets a 9-7 lead with 2:35 left in the first period. Gordonsville retook the lead on the final play of the frame as a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Foster gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead entering the second quarter.
Cumberland County controlled the early portions of the second period as a Torres and-one put the Jets up 21-13 with 4:06 left until halftime. Gordonsville responded with a 9-2 run over the final 4 minutes of the half to trail by one point at the break, 23-22.
The Jets opened the second half strong as back-t0-back three-pointers from Dennis and Torres gave CCHS a 29-22 lead early in the third quarter. Cumberland County pushed their advantage to double digits with 2:08 left in the third as another Torres three-pointer put his team ahead 38-26.
Following a Daiden Mifflin buzzer-beating layup, Cumberland County entered the fourth quarter with a 43-28 advantage. Gordonsville cut the Jets’ lead to 46-39 with 2:45 remaining, but got not closer as Cumberland County closed out the contest to win by a 57-44 final score.
“We’re still a little more inconsistent than we’d like to be, but our bright spots are starting to get a little brighter,” Denney said. “We want to keep improving to springboard into district play.”
The Jets improve to 3-9 overall while Gordonsville falls to 7-4. Both teams will head to Florida after Christmas as Cumberland County is set to play in Tampa Bay and Gordonsville will play in Gulf Breeze Dec. 27-29.
