Story and photos by Noah McKay
MURFREESBORO – The Pickett County Bobcats fell in a 56-39 loss to Hillcrest in the quarterfinal round of the TSSAA Class A state tournament on Wednesday at the Murphy Center.
The Bobcats were unable to overcome the speed of Hillcrest as they finished their season in the final eight teams left in the classification.
“First of all, I want to thank the TSSAA,” said PCHS head coach Joseph Amonett. “How many times can the kids from Memphis Hillcrest play a sporting event against kids from Pickett County. I thought we started pretty well, we just never got into a real great flow offensively and defensively.”
Viking guard J’acoby Lewis dominated in the first half, tallying 20 points in the first two quarters. The Bobcats led early 6-2 on two Eli Reagan free throws. The Bobcats answered 10 points with buckets by Cole Amonett, Jacob Amonett and Nathaniel Cobb. The Vikings led 14-13 after one.
Cornell Watson made a layup to give the Vikings a 21-15 lead in the second. Cobb and Jacob Amonett answered with buckets to cut the deficit to two before Lewis rattled off seven points to make it 28-21 at halftime.
“We knew if we got behind, they’d use their quickness to milk the clock,” said coach Amonett. “They were able to control the pace of the game a little bit better than we were. With no shot clock, that’s kind of what’s going to happen.”
The Vikings stretched the lead to 11 on a Lewis 3 with 5:31 to play. Jacob and Cole Amonett each made jumpers to cut it to 36-28, but the Vikings answered with a 6-2 run to take a 42-30 lead after three. They then made eight free throws in the fourth quarter as they pulled away for the first win in state tournament in Hillcrest history.
“It was very physical,” said coach Amonett. “We’ve played a lot of physical games. You have that. An extremely physical game is not going to necessarily play to our advantage. Their physicality impacted us, for sure.”
Jacob Amonett led the Bobcats with 13 points. Cobb tallied 12. Cole Amonett scored six points while Lyric Parris and Reagan each tallied four.
It was the final game for seniors Gavin Daniels, Parris, Jacob Amonett and Reagan. They led the Bobcats to three substate games and one state tournament.
“To win the district tournament and region tournament and get here speaks volumes,” said coach Amonett. “They got Pickett County basketball back where it should be. I would call them the unlikely champions. Nobody predicted this class would do this.”
The Bobcats finished the season 25-7. They were the District 7/A and Region 4/A tournament champions. It was their 12th state tournament appearance in school history.
