by Rusty Ellis

Pickett County Vs. Red Boiling Springs

The Pickett County Lady Bobcats are back in the district championship game, as they took down a young Red Boiling Springs squad 73-31 in the semifinals.

RBS battled early, as they hit four threes in the opening frame, three of which came from Sidney Massengille. The Lady Bobcats got things humming inside the arc however, as they scored 21 points in the first to take a 21-12 lead into the second.

The second quarter was where the Pickett defense locked in, as they limited the Lady Bulldogs to just four points in the quarter and took a 35-16 lead at the halftime break.

The Lady Bobcat offense exploded in the third quarter, as 13 points in the frame from Emmy Lowe helped them extend the lead further, and Pickett closed out the win in the fourth by a final score of 73-31.

Lowe led the way with 20 points, while Zoey Nicholas and Kaylee Tompkins added 14 points of their own.

Massengille led RBS with her nine first-quarter points.

Pickett County head coach Brent Smith was anxious due to the long layoff since his team’s last game, but liked the energy they came out with early.

“I was kind of scared coming in, because we hadn’t played in seven days,” Smith said. “We worked the kinks out early and got going in the first quarter. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but we did some really good things, defensively.”

Smith says he chose to trust his team’s ability to figure things out on the fly, as well as their pressure defense.

“I thought we could put enough pressure on them, which we did, and we could figure things out on offense,” Smith said. “Good defense leads to good offense, and I felt like we played pretty hard.”

Winning on Monday night would be the first step for Pickett County in achieving their ultimate goals, as Smith says that playing in the district championship is a great opportunity that doesn’t come along every year.

“It obviously means a lot, you’ve got to cherish every moment,” Smith said. “We’ve got eight more games hopefully, that’s what our goal is. Hopefully, we fulfill that goal.”

Clay County Vs. Clarkrange

Halle Buford poured in 22 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs to the district championship game, as Clay County took down Clarkrange 45-37.

The game opened with a slow pace, as both teams struggled to establish consistent offense. Clarkrange took a 6-2 lead early after a Kady Hopkins free throw, but Clay closed the quarter on a 10-3 run to take a 12-9 lead into the second.

Both defenses locked in for the second quarter, as Clarkrange managed to out-score Clay 4-3, cutting the halftime lead down to just 15-13.

Buford kicked her game into high gear in the third, as she scored nine points to help Clay County build their lead to 28-20 at the end of the third, and Bella Ashlock’s bucket to open the fourth pushed the lead to double digits. The Lady Buffaloes cut the lead back down to seven at one point late in the frame, but couldn’t overcome the deficit, as Clay finished off the eight-point victory.

Buford’s 22 led all scorers, while Ashlock added 11 points of her own. Madison Hayes was the only other Lady Bulldog in double-figures, as she finished with 10 points.

Kady Hopkins led Clarkrange with 17 points.

For Clay head coach Matthew Walker, it wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but he liked how his team battled and closed out the win in the second half.

“It was ugly, we had a hard time scoring against them,” Walker said. “District tournament time, all of these kids on both teams play hard…we had to show up and match their effort, and I think our girls really responded.”

Clarkrange went on a couple runs in the second half where it seemed like they could potentially take a lead, but Clay’s experience allowed them to withstand and respond to maintain their lead.

“That’s the joys of having an upperclassmen-laden team,” Walker said. “Halle Buford really kept her composure and she’s a heck of a player, I’m just glad to coach her.”

Clay will now meet Pickett in the district championship on Monday night at 8 P.M., and Walker says his team is excited to be back in the championship.

“I think this is our fourth straight year being in this championship,” Walker said. “This is something (our seniors) wanted to end their career on, making it back there and wanting to win another one…(Pickett) is so offensively diverse, they have two guards that would play for any team in the state, and they have a heck of a post player inside that presents matchup problems and two good shooters on the wing. They’re just a good single-A team.”

Photos by Michael Lindsay