By Michael Lindsay
Girls
The White County Warriorettes overcame an 8-point fourth-quarter deficit Friday evening in Crossville as they defeated the Cumberland County Lady Jets in overtime, 53-52.
“We survived,” said White County head coach Michael Dodgen. “This is a hard environment to play in; Cumberland County is a very good basketball team. Ava Jones, Celeste Reed and Gracie Clark fouled out and Piper Price wasn’t here because she’s sick. We had to rely on some kids that haven’t played a lot of minutes for us this year, and they did a good job for us.”
White County senior forward Celeste Reed led the Warriorettes with a double-double as she posted 14 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in overtime. Ava Jones recorded 11 points and 7 rebounds while freshman Ashlyn Selby scored 8 points and pulled 8 rebounds off the bench.
“You build all year by playing JV games, practice and challenge your kids,” said Dodgen. “You hope they step up when they’re in that scenario.”
Freshman guard Sydney Wilhite led Cumberland County with 23 points.
Cumberland County held a 21-16 lead after one quarter before White County pulled within 2 at halftime as they trailed 26-24.
A Jones layup early in the third period tied the game at 26. After exchanging leads through the third quarter, an Aliyah Hawkins buzzer-beater gave the Lady Jets a 34-32 lead entering the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer from Wilhite and an and-one by Jalynn Baldwin extended Cumberland County’s lead to 40-32 early in the fourth quarter. The Warriorettes battled back to within a point (41-40) via a Gracie Clark basket with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
Cumberland County pushed their lead to 46-42 with 17.5 seconds remaining via a Wilhite free throw before Reed answered with two baskets in the final 10 seconds, including a buzzer-beating floater in the paint, to send the game to overtime tied at 46.
A Lakelyn Grasty layup with 2:30 remaining in overtime tied the contest at 49. White County went ahead by 2 at 51-49 before a pair of Wilhite free throws tied the game at 51.
Hawkins tacked on a free throw with 59 seconds left to give Cumberland County a 52-51 advantage before Grasty banked in a floater with 33 seconds remaining to give the Warriorettes a 53-52 lead.
Following a missed shot by the Lady Jets, White County missed a pair of free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining, giving the ball back to Cumberland County. The Warriorettes held off the Lady Jets on their final possession to win by a 53-52 final score.
“When you win tough games on the road, it shows a lot about your team,” said Dodgen. “We could’ve put our heads down early, but we didn’t and got a big district road win.”
White County improves to 24-2 overall and 7-1 in District 7-3A play while Cumberland County falls to 16-7 and 4-3.
The Warriorettes are currently in first place in district play followed by Upperman in second, Cumberland County in third and Livingston Academy in fourth.
“I know you guys talk about it on your show, but man it’s such a great district,” said Dodgen. “I’m going to have to have a heart check after this one. It’s good basketball and great environments, and it’s fun to play in once it tips off.”
White County is scheduled to play at Upperman on Monday while Cumberland County is scheduled to play at Stone Memorial.
White County (53): Celeste Reed 14, Ava Jones 11, Ashlyn Selby 8, Gracie Clark 8, Bella Winningham 6, Lakelyn Grasty 4
Cumberland County (52): Sydney Wilhite 23, Jalynn Baldwin 9, Aliyah Hawkins 9, Lauren Clark 4, Lexi Carroll 3, Kaedinse Wilson 2
Boys
The White County Warriors overcame a double-digit first-half deficit Friday evening as they defeated the Cumberland County Jets in Crossville, 52-34.
“We get down and come fighting back,” said White County head coach Eric Mitchell. “We’d like to get off to better starts. We’ve been a third-quarter team all year. Cumberland County came out red-hot coming off a big win over DeKalb.”
Tripp Pinion led the Warriors with 22 points along with 11 by Cole Sims. Nolen Carter and Huston Torres led Cumberland County with 10 points each while Carter tacked on 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The Jets took control early as four three-pointers from Andrew Dennis, Ethan Dixon and Sol Sitton in the opening 5:45 gave the Jets a 14-2 advantage. Cumberland County led 16-6 after one quarter.
White County weathered the storm as they opened the second quarter on a 15-4 run to take a one-point lead (20-21) via Jackson Young basket with 45 seconds left left in the second period.
Dixon hit a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left until halftime to give Cumberland County a 22-21 halftime advantage.
White County kept their run from the second quarter going in the third as they opened the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 33-24 advantage over the Jets. A pair of Pinion free throws with 1 second left in the third quarter put the Warriors up 35-24 entering the fourth. The Warriors held Cumberland County to only two points in the third period.
“We have Tripp, and he can control the tempo,” said Mitchell. “Tripp, Lucas and Cole can defend, it’s just a matter of us knocking down some shots.”
White County controlled the final frame as they outscored Cumberland County 17-10 in the fourth to win by a 52-34 final score.
“We’re in a fight that first half; I thought we were going to get ran out of the building,” said Mitchell. “To finish like that, and it’s almost tournament time, hopefully it carries over and we keep it going.”
White County improves to 10-10 overall and 5-3 in District 7-3A while Cumberland County falls to 5-18 and 1-6. The Warriors are currently third in district play behind Upperman in first and Stone Memorial in second.
The Warriors travel to Upperman on Monday while Cumberland County travels to Stone Memorial.
White County (52): Tripp Pinion 22, Cole Sims 11, Lucas Dickerson 9, Jackson Young 4, Gage Stephenson 4, Lucas Smith 2
Cumberland County (34): Nolen Carter 10, Huston Torres 10, Andrew Dennis 6, Ethan Dixon 5, Sol Sitton 3
