by Rusty Ellis
The January 25 edition of the UC Top 5 is here, and it brings a big shakeup to the girls side of the rankings. With White County taking down both Livingston Academy and Upperman this week, the Warriorettes find themselves skyrocketing up the rankings,
The Top 5 is revealed every week on the UCR Basketball Coaches Show, presented by Fire & Vine.
Complete rankings are available BELOW:
Girls
1. Cookeville (17-3)
No changes at the top spot this week, as the Lady Cavs have taken care of business with dominant wins over Wilson Central and LaVergne. They allowed an average of 24 points a game defensively, and have been shooting the cover off the ball from three. This week, it was Macy Hudson who had a big game with 14 points in the Wednesday night victory, as the Lady Cavs showed off their depth and saw 10 players score for the second consecutive game. Who can dethrone them? Well, our number two spot might have some thing to say about that.
2. White County (21-2)
We heard you loud and clear, Warriorette fans. At this point, there is no denying what White County has accomplished this season as dominant wins over Livingston Academy on the road and Upperman at home have the Warriorettes in our number-two spot. Ava Jones was a game-wrecker against Upperman with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks, and Gracie Clark continued her excellent season with a 14-point game of her own. White County’s earned this ranking by virtue of taking care of business in their non-district, and now they’ve got the great wins in district to add to it.
3. Upperman (19-3)
Calling it what it is, Wednesday night was a setback for Dana McWilliams’ squad. They ran into a team playing some great basketball and we believe we are all in agreement when we say it wasn’t the best showing for the now 19-3 Lady Bees. It doesn’t change that they have the quality wins, and still have no bad losses at this point in the season. Taylor Dolente and Gracie Butler will give this team the opportunity to bounce back on Friday when they host Stone Memorial.
4. York Institute (13-5)
By nature of Sparta climbing the ranks so quickly, York finds themselves in the four-spot due to no real fault of their own. The Dragonettes haven’t played since their tough loss to Bearden, and they’ll have an opportunity to get back in the win-column on Friday when they take on Watertown. If the trio of Reese Beaty, Raylee Werner and Emma Cooper are all playing well, this team is absolutely still a threat to win a gold ball.
5. Pickett County (14-2)
Much like York, Pickett finds themselves here through no fault of their own. They blew out district rival Clay County and have an opportunity to take control of the District 7-A standings when they head to Clarkrange on Saturday. Zoey Nicholas scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Lady Bobcats over Clay, and it feels like all seven members of the rotation are playing collectively their best ball of the season.
Honorable mentions: Livingston Academy
Boys
1. Cookeville (18-3)
The Cavaliers earned arguably their most impressive win of the season with their comeback victory over LaVergne on Wednesday. Trailing by eight points at one point in the second quarter, it was Jaren Davis, Jalen Heard and Joseph Owens who kept the Cavaliers afloat. In the second half, Josh Heard and Colin Ayers dominated and the Cavaliers ended up with an 11-point win. At this point, it may be time for a conversation as far as what this team’s ceiling is, because they look like one that could go on a big run.
2. Upperman (17-4)
The Bees survived a tough test from the White County Warriors in Sparta on Wednesday night, as they moved to 3-1 in district play. Upperman got 18 points from Ty Cobb and another 13 points from Brayden Roberts. All signs point to Friday night’s rematch against Stone Memorial being another classic game in this district, and it’ll likely see this second overall spot on the line for the winner.
3. Stone Memorial (13-7)
Stone got 26 points from Cade Capps in their 23-point win over Cumberland County, and have a chance to put themselves in first place all alone in District 7-3A with a win over Upperman on Friday night. Capps is playing like one of the three best players in the 3A classification right now, and we’re starting to see some other players push themselves to the forefront. They’ll need that production to go where the Panthers believe they can go.
4. Pickett County (13-4)
The Bobcats are playing as well as any team in the state at this point and time, and have to feel really good about sweeping district rival Clay County for the first time in several seasons. Jacob Amonett has become an efficient scorer, and Eli Reagan continues to be rock-solid for the Bobcats on both ends of the court. Another real difference-maker is Nathaniel Cobb, who appears to be running away with the district Freshman of the Year award.
5. Livingston Academy (14-9)
The Wildcats find their way back onto the list after a head-to-head win over previously-undefeated Sparta, followed by an impressive 100-point performance against Clarkrange. Daniel Bilbrey scored 33 points in that game, and the Wildcats are playing some really good basketball with the most important part of the season looming. They’ll take on Cumberland County on Friday, before hosting a rematch everyone will have their eyes on against Upperman in Hogeye Country.