By Michael Lindsay

Clay County and Jackson County’s basketball teams returned to the hardwood Monday night after more than a week off due to inclement weather across Tennessee, and it was visiting Jackson County who left Celina with a pair of District 7-1A wins.

Girls

The TSWA #6-ranked Jackson County Lady Blue Devils (15-8, 5-1) picked up a 43-38 win Monday night at Clay County after 12 days off due to inclement weather.

“We definitely didn’t play our best, but we did enough to get by,” said Jackson County head coach Jim Brown. “We seem to bring out the best in Clay County; they’ve played really well against us both times. If you can get a win on the road in this district without playing your best, that says a lot.”

Reigning TSWA all-state point guard Jalynn Meadows led the Lady Devils with 21 points followed by 7 points each from Claire Williams and Lyla Smith. Ella Eads led Clay County with 16 along with 9 by Natalie Smith and 8 from Haylen Garrison.

“Jalynn carried us,” said Brown. “She was getting to the rim and taking care of things. I thought Reece Thomas stepped up big and did a really good job.”

Jackson County led 11-9 after one quarter before back-to-back Eads baskets gave Clay County a 14-13 advantage with 4:29 remaining in the second quarter. The Lady Devils battled back to take an 18-15 lead at halftime.

The Lady Devils extended their lead to 9 points (32-23) with 3:10 left in the third quarter, but Clay County closed the gap over the ensuing 1:40 as a Garrison three-pointer pulled them within a possession at 32-30. Jackson County held on to lead 36-30 entering the fourth quarter.

Clay County battled back within a possession again with 2:10 remaining at 41-38, but the Lady Devils locked in defensively from there as they held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless over the final 2:09 while Williams hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to seal the 43-38 victory.

Clay County is back in action tonight as they travel to Pickett County while Jackson County is scheduled to host Pickett County on Friday.

“We have to play better than what we did up there. I mean, they put one on us up there, so I, you know, I don’t know me. They’re very, very talented. Uh, I mean, we’re going to have to do a little better job defensively and, and, and, well, we got to do better on both ends of Florida. They’ve got a good team, so we’ll have our hands full, for sure.”

Boys

The TSWA #3-ranked Jackson County Blue Devils (19-4, 5-1) returned to action Monday night as they picked up a District 7-1A victory at Clay County, 67-51.

“You can tell we haven’t played in a week and a half,” said Jackson County head coach Kevin Thomas. “We shot the ball poorly. We did a lot of good things and got the looks we wanted to kind of get, but you have to shoot it better than what we shot it.”

Senior forward Will McCrary led Jackson County with 22 points followed by 15 from Aden Netherton and 12 by Alex Meadows.

“Alex had a tremendous game,” said Thomas. “He got going a little bit and getting to the basket and seeing people, and he handled that pressure.”

Jackson County opened the contest on an 11-2 run and held a 15-9 advantage after one quarter. The Blue Devils extended their lead to double digits (29-18) with 1:29 remaining in the second quarter before going into the locker room with a 31-22 lead.

The Blue Devils took control in the third quarter as they outscored Clay County 17-10 in the frame to lead 48-32 entering the fourth quarter, where they closed out to win by a 67-51 final score.

Up next for each team is the Class 1A #2-ranked Pickett County Bobcats (22-3, 5-0) as Clay County travels to Byrdstown on Tuesday while Jackson County hosts the Bobcats on Friday.

“We’re going to go over some Pickett County scout, but right now we’re more concerned about us,” said Thomas. “We play better to start the game tonight, but previous two games we didn’t come out and play at all the first half.”