By Michael Lindsay
Girls
Pickett County’s offense was firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon as the Lady Bobcats picked up an 86-53 non-district victory at Oneida.
“We were shooting it really well,” said Pickett County head coach Brent Smith. “When you shoot it well, it covers up some stuff. We’ve shot it well the last few games, so we’ve been on our kids about the other things like boxing out.”
Saturday’s win comes less than 24 hours after a 72-55 victory over Clarkrange.
“Last night (against Clarkrange) we weren’t really good,” said Smith. “I thought today might be a lull, but it was refreshing to play a non-conference team.”
Point guard Zoey Nicholas led Pickett County with 24 points in the victory along with 15 by senior forward Callie Reeder and 13 by Emmy Lowe and Ella Keisling.
Nicholas hit six three-pointers in the victory as the Lady Bobcats made 13 treys as a team.
“Zoey came out and hit her first six threes,” said Smith. “Ella’s shooting it well, and everybody is doing their roles really good right now.”
Pickett County opened the contest on a 22-4 run as a Keisling three-pointer put the Lady Bobcats up by 18 points with 4:40 left in the opening quarter.
Emmy Lowe capped off the first quarter with an and-one to give the Lady Bobcats a 39-14 advantage after one period.
Pickett County kept things rolling in the second quarter another Keisling trey gave the Lady Bobcats a 49-14 lead with 5:42 remaining until halftime.
Pickett led by as many as 37 points in the first half as a Zoey Nicholas three-pointer put hear team ahead 59-22 with 1:01 left in the second quarter. The Lady Bobcats took a 59-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Pickett County kept things rolling in the second half as they led 71-40 after three quarters before winning by an 86-53 final score.
The Lady Bobcats improve to 18-2 overall and are scheduled to host Gordonsville in District 7-A action on Tuesday.
“We’ve already sealed up #1 in the conference, but we’ve got two big district games this week and you always want to be playing well going into the tournament,” said Smith.
Pickett County (86): Zoey Nicholas 24, Callie Reeder 15, Ella Keisling 13, Emmy Lowe 13, Allie Amonett 6, Kylie Wood 5, Emma Tompkins 4, Kaylee Tompkins 2 Addy Lowe 2
Boys
The Pickett County Bobcats picked up their 8th consecutive win Saturday afternoon as they traveled to Oneida and left with a 54-44 victory.
“That may be the gutsiest win we’ve had all year,” said Pickett County head coach Joseph Amonett. “Oneida is a great team. We just sat down and played defense, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Four players hit double figures for the Bobcats as Gage Harris, Lyric Parris and Nathaniel Cobb scored 14 points each along with 10 by Jacob Amonett.
Pickett County opened with a 14-6 lead late in the first quarter via a Cobb steal and layup as the Bobcats held a 15-8 advantage after one period.
The Indians opened the second quarter strong as a dunk by Mason Keeton cut Pickett County’s lead to 15-12 with 6:49 left in the second period.
The Bobcats responded with a Gage Harris three-pointer and Cobb basket to push their advantage to 20-14 with 4:40 left until halftime.
Pickett County extended their lead to double digits late in the second quarter as an Amonett three-pointer and a pair of Parris free throws gave the Bobcats a 29-18 lead at halftime.
Oneida opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers before Harris hit a pair of his own to keep Pickett County’s lead at 11 points (35-24).
“We made a basket every time we needed to,” said Amonett. “Everybody on the team made plays. The thing I’m most proud of is when things aren’t clicking offensively, can we play hard enough to win? And I think we did.”
A buzzer-beater by Oneida to end the third quarter made the score 42-33 entering the fourth.
Pickett County extended their lead to as many as 13 points (48-35) with 4:33 remaining before closing out to win by a 54-44 final score.
The Bobcats improve to 17-4 overall and host District 7-A foe Gordonsville (16-8, 5-1) on Tuesday.
“We have two games left in the regular season, and they’re huge conference games,” said Amonett. “We play a great Gordonsville team on Tuesday and a phenomenal Red Boiling Springs team on Thursday. We have to be ready.”
Pickett County (54): Gage Harris 14, Lyric Parris 14, Nathaniel Cobb 14, Jacob Amonett 10, Eli Reagan 2
