by Rusty Ellis
Both the Pickett County Lady Bobcats and Bobcats snapped lengthy losing streaks against Clay County on Friday night, as the girls held on for a 50-46 win over the Lady Bulldogs, while the Bobcats led most of the way in a 57-40 victory.
Girls
The Lady Bobcats got off to a fast start at both ends of the floor, and used clutch free-throw shooting late to ice a four-point win over the Lady Bulldogs.
Early, it was the defense that got things done for the visitors, as the Lady Bobcats limited Clay County to just 10 first-half points en route to building a 25-10 lead at the half. Addy Lowe capped off an excellent first-quarter with a three to put Pickett up 15-5, and the Lady Bobcats got five second-quarter points from Callie Reeder to help power them to the 15-point lead at the break.
The third quarter saw the Lady Bulldogs begin to build some steam on offense, powered by a pair of Baylor Walden three-pointers, but Clay still faced a 40-28 to start the fourth quarter.
Walden cut the lead down to just nine points for the Lady Bulldogs with her third three to open the frame, and she knocked down another to make it a two-point game with just over ten seconds left as part of a furious CCHS rally, but two Reeder free throws iced the game and clinched the 50-46 win for the Lady Bobcats.
The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Pickett against the Lady Bulldogs, as Zoey Nicholas’ 15 points and Callie Reeder’s 14-point, 12-rebound double-double led the way.
Walden had 16 points for Clay to lead all scorers.
Boys
The Bobcats snapped an 18-game losing streak to Clay County as well, as they won in a 57-40 effort over the Bulldogs.
Both teams struggled to find a rhythm early, as the game was knotted at 8-8 before Pickett got two threes from Jacob Amonett and a third from Gage Harris to build an 18-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Kaiden Thomas drilled a three to push the lead to double-digits early in the second, and Eli Reagan’s first three of the game made it a 24-13 lead for the Bobcats. Clay refused to go away quietly however, as a pair of threes from Kyler Westmoreland helped trim the lead down to 24-21, but PCHS closed the half with seven of the final 11 points to take a 31-25 lead into the locker room.
Westmoreland knocked down his third three of the game to make it a 31-28 game, but Nathaniel Cobb took over for the Bobcats and scored 11 consecutive points to push the advantage up to 42-28. Lyric Parris and Gage Harris each added a bucket in the third to send the game to the fourth in a 46-30 game, and it was all she wrote from there as Pickett County earned their first win over Clay County in almost six years by a 57-40 count.
Cobb led the way with 17 points while Jacob Amonett added 10 points.
Nate Adams paced Clay County with 17 points of his own, followed by 11 from Westmoreland.
Pickett County will be back in action on Tuesday at Gordonsville, while Clay County will look to regroup next Friday when they travel to Clarkrange.