By Michael Lindsay

The Pickett County High School Bobcats and Lady Bobcats secured the #1 overall seed in the upcoming District 7-1A tournament on Friday as they won a pair of Class 1A top-10 matchups at Jackson County. The Lady Bobcats opened the evening with a 60-58 win over the Lady Devils followed by a 68-60 win by the Pickett County boys.

Girls

A balanced offensive effort led the Class 1A #9-ranked Pickett County Lady Bobcats (16-9, 7-0) to a 60-58 win at #6 Jackson County (15-9, 5-2) Friday evening to secure the regular season District 7-1A championship for the Lady Bobcats.

“I would say this was the biggest single A game in the state tonight,” said Pickett County head coach Brittany Cooper. “There’s conversations about where both of these teams will be in March. The girls had to dig deep and find a way and I’m really proud of the effort and the attitude we had tonight.”

Three Lady Bobcats scored in double figures led by freshman Star White with 19 followed by Zoey Nicholas with 17 and Addy Lowe with 16.

“Anytime you have multiple kids in double figures, it’s hard to beat a team like that,” said Cooper. “But it took all 12 of the girls on my roster tonight the court. Sometimes the girls who didn’t score as much have a harder job, because they have to do all the dirty work and not get the glory.”

Jalynn Meadows lead Jackson County with 27 points along with 15 from Avannah Banks and 9 by Claire Williams.

Pickett County jumped out to a 12-7 lead after the first quarter, but Jackson County battled back to take a 16-14 lead via a pair of Meadows free throws with 4:59 remaining in the second period. The Lady Bobcats closed the first half on an 8-0 run to regain a 22-16 halftime lead.

The Lady Bobcats came out firing in the third quarter as they opened the period on a 17-3 run to take a 39-19 lead via a Lowe free throw with 2:53 remaining in the frame. Facing a 20-point deficit, Jackson County went to work as they closed the third on an 8-4 run to trail 43-27 entering the fourth quarter.

Jackson County continued chipping away at Pickett County’s lead in the fourth quarter as a Smith three-pointer with 1:15 remaining pulled her team within two possessions at 52-46. A pair of Meadows free throws at the 34.3 mark cut the Lady Devils’ deficit to one possession at 54-51.

A White free throw followed by another pair of makes from Meadows at the 30-second mark saw Jackson County pull within two points at 55-53. White went back to the line with 22.3 remaining and extended her team’s lead back to two possessions at 57-53.

After trading baskets and free throws, a Smith three-pointer with 6.3 seconds remaining cut Jackson County’s deficit back to two points at 58-56, but Nicholas put the game on ice with a pair of free throws at the 5.4 second left mark to put her team up 60-56. Meadows tacked on two more free throws at the end to make the final score 60-58 in favor of Pickett County.

The win secures the #1 overall seed for Pickett County in the upcoming District 7-1A tournament. Pickett County has two more regular season games remaining as they host Class 2A #1-ranked York Institute on Tuesday and District 7-1A foe Red Boiling Springs on Friday. Jackson County is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 7 as they host Red Boiling Springs.

Boys

The second matchup between Class 1A’s #3-ranked Jackson County (19-5, 5-2) and #2 Pickett County (24-3, 7-0) lived up to the hype as the Bobcats traveled to Gainesboro and left with a 68-60 victory.

“We finally grew up,” said Pickett County head coach Lee Amonett. “Our kids had a calm about them tonight that I don’t think they had a couple of weeks ago. I thought Jackson County had a good game plan. They’ve got (Will) McCrary down low and they tried to exploit us on that. I thought we won that matchup the first time we played and they won that matchup this time, but our guard play was fantastic.

“Thees are two really good teams, and I hope we play three more times,” added Amonett.

Sophomore guard Cole Amonett led Pickett County with 23 points followed by 14 points each from junior Nathaniel Cobb and freshman Kelvin Cobb. Abram Phillips tacked on 11 points for the Bobcats.

“Cole was awesome tonight,” said coach Amonett. “He and Brody Pryor can use that ball screen out there and get some separation. When Cole gets his jump shot going, we’re really tough. He kept his composure better tonight than he has any game in his high school career, especially with the amount of pressure we had.”

Senior forward Will McCrary led the Blue Devils with 31 points and 14 rebounds along with 12 points by Alex Meadows.

“It’s a hard place to come play,” said Amonett. “They’re a mature team. I thought we executed our game plan rather well and it’s the best game we’ve played this year as a team.”

A back-and-forth first quarter saw Pickett County lead 19-18 entering the second. The Bobcats extended their lead to 7 points (33-26) via a pair of Kelvin Cobb free throws with 1:56 left until halftime and entered the locker room with a 35-30 halftime lead.

Jackson County pulled back within one point (39-38) early in the third quarter, but the Bobcats pushed back ahead by 9 (47-38) via an Amonett three-pointer with 4:21 left in the frame. The Blue Devils pulled back within a possession multiple times in the third quarter but Pickett County never relinquished their lead as they entered the fourth quarter ahead 55-50.

A McCrary transition dunk early in the fourth quarter cut Jackson County’s deficit back to point point at 55-54, but the Bobcats kept their lead as they answered with a pair of free throws and an Amonett three-pointer to lead 60-54 with 2:14 remaining.

Pickett County held off the Blue Devils on the defensive end on the ensuing possession to set up Pryor at the free-throw line with 1:19 left, where he made both to give the Bobcats a 62-54 advantage. Pickett County closed out from there to win by a 68-60 final score.

The win secures the regular season District 7-1A championship and #1 overall seed in the upcoming district tournament. Pickett County has two more regular season games remaining as they host York Institute on Tuesday and District 7-1A foe Red Boiling Springs on Friday. Jackson County is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 7 as they host Red Boiling Springs.

“You work all summer and fall to get to this point,” said coach Amonett. “That that’s what you earn. We’re the Tri-Lakes Conference regular season champion for the third year in a row. That was one of the goals we had on our calendar. We’ve had three opportunities at this point in the season to win a championship, and we’re 3-3 with three more left.”