By Michael Lindsay

The Livingston Academy Wildcats and Lady Wildcats earned a pair of road wins against their neighbors to the northwest on Tuesday as they swept Clay County. The Lady Wildcats opened the evening with a 46-38 victory followed by a 58-35 win by the LA boys.

Girls

The Livingston Academy Lady Wildcats improved to 7-2 overall Tuesday evening as they completed the season sweep of Clay County via a 46-38 victory in Celina.

“We did a better job late in the game at choosing our shots,” said Livingston head coach Lesley Riddle. “When they pressed, we did a good job attacking. Clay County played really well and did a good job getting the shots they wanted.”

Tuesday’s 8-point victory follows a 54-23 win by Livingston over Clay County last week.

Livingston senior Ellie Butler led all scorers with 26 points in the victory followed by Clay County’s Haylen Garrison with 15.

“Ellie is hard to stop,” said Riddle. “Especially in transition. Sometimes, even our kids end up watching her. She’s a winner.”

After trading leads early in the first quarter, Livingston closed the first quarter on a 7-1 run to take a 15-10 lead entering the second quarter. The Lady Wildcats held a 26-19 advantage at halftime.

Livingston extended their lead to 29-19 via a Mallie Carwile three-pointer with 7:01 remaining in the third quarter before Clay County battled back within 6 points by the end of the frame at 37-31.

Clay County’s run continued into the fourth quarter as a Natalie Smith three-pointer cut Livingston’s lead to one point at 37-36 with 5:41 left in the contest.

The Lady Wildcats kept their lead, though, as an Emma Poston free throw followed by 5 consecutive points from Butler over the ensuing 2:07 gave Livingston a 43-36 lead with 3:34 remaining.

Livingston held Clay County to only two points in the final 5:40 to secure a 46-38 victory over the Lady Bulldogs.

Up next for Livingston Academy is Christmas tournament action at Heritage High School in Maryville, where they’ll open with Karns. this weekend while Clay County is off until Dec. 27, when they’ll compete in the Harriman Christmas Classic.

Boys

The Livingston Academy Wildcats are back in the win column as they traveled to Celina and defeated the Clay County Bulldogs on Tuesday, 58-35.

The victory avenges a 71-69 loss to Clay County last week in Livingston.

“I think it’s the best game we’ve played all season,” said Livingston head coach Jimmy Miller. “I can’t asked a group of guys to compete any harder than they did, especially against a team that came into our gym last week and owned us.”

Cole Harris led the Wildcats with 20 points and 6 rebounds along with 18 points by Tucker Miller.

Livingston took control early as a Miller three-pointer with 2:59 remaining in the opening frame gave the Wildcats a 12-2 advantage.

“We’ve been letting teams get going on us to start games,” said Miller. “It takes a while to build chemistry and tonight is a big step towards that.”

The Wildcats took a 16-4 lead into the second quarter and grew it to 16 points late in the second quarter before a Lance Burchett buzzer-beater trimmed Clay County’s deficit to 29-16 at halftime.

Clay County came out of the locker room hot as a basket from Nate Adams cut Livingston’s lead back to single digits at 29-20 early in the third quarter.

“Nate is really good and talented,” said Miller. “He’s going to get some buckets even when you do the right thing defensively. We stayed composed, though.”

Livingston weathered the storm and pushed their lead out to 15 (39-24) points via a Rocco Carwile and-one with 1:35 remaining in the third period.

The Wildcats held their lead from there as they cruised through the fourth quarter to win by a 58-35 final score.

Up next for Livingston is Christmas tournament action in Pigeon Forge while Clay County is scheduled to host South Pittsburg in a boys-only game on Saturday.