By Michael Lindsay
Van Buren High School swept a pair of non-district basketball games against Clay County on Monday as the Eaglettes cruised to a 76-44 victory while the boys erased a 15-point halftime deficit to defeat the Bulldogs in overtime, 67-62.
Girls
Eaglette head coach Tyler Sapp’s 200th career win came in style as Class 1A #3-ranked Van Buren County (21-3, 6-0) defeated Clay County (10-12, 2-6) by a 76-44 margin.
“There have been so many kids that have been a part of this,” said the 35-year old Sapp. “These seniors this year were part of my 100th win as 8th graders. You can’t do it without good kids, and I’ve coached a lot of great kids that have helped me get here.”
Van Buren County posted 52 points in the first half including 30 in the first quarter in Monday’s win.
“We shot the ball really well,” said Sapp. “I thought it was very important for us to be able to get out early on them. It was 5-4 Clay, and then it was 50-14. We forced a lot of turnovers and shot layups. It’s just defense leading to offense.”
Abigail Netherton led Van Buren County with 25 points along with 20 by Cara Mills. Ella Eads led Clay County with 18 points.
“Abigail was big defensively,” said Sapp. “Ellie Grissom was key and Cara is always big defensively; she does so many things that don’t show up in the stat book.”
The Eaglettes are back in action on Tuesday as they welcome Class 3A #2 White County (24-4, 5-2) to Spencer while Clay County is at Class 1A #4 Gordonsville.
“This is for sure the toughest part of the schedule,” said Sapp. “Clay County is a very good basketball team. Sparta is going to be a tough one for sure.”
Boys
Van Buren County (12-12, 4-2) and Clay County (9-13, 2-6) needed an extra frame to decide a winner on Monday as the Eagles won in overtime, 67-62.
Van Buren County trailed 34-19 at halftime before they stormed back to tie the game late in the fourth quarter and force overtime.
“I was so frustrated at halftime,” said Van Buren head coach Dustin Sullivan. “I reminded them that a few weeks ago South Pittsburg had a 13-point lead on us at halftime, and we dug ourselves out of that. They played as good a half as we’ve played all year.”
Callyn Sullivan led Van Buren County with 27 points and 8 rebounds along with 16 points and 9 boards by Ty Measles. RC Howard posted a career-high 16 points for the Eagles in the win.
“Callyn demands a lot of attention, and we’ve told our guys all year to have their hands ready,” said Sullivan. “RC Howard got hot and that opened things up for Ty around the basket. When we weren’t as stagnant and we got the ball moving, we made the right decisions when we needed to.”
Clay County jumped out to a 16-8 lead midway through the first quarter and led 21-17 at the end of the frame. The Bulldogs extended their lead to double digits (29-19) via a Jake Copeland layup with 4:29 left in the second period and held a 34-19 advantage at halftime.
Van Buren County closed the gap in the third quarter as a Sullivan followed by a pair of Howard three-pointers cut Clay County’s lead to 42-41 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter. The Eagled outscored the Bulldogs 22-8 in the frame.
Clay County pushed their lead back out to 52-46 midway through the fourth quarter before a Howard three-pointer followed by a putback and pair of free throws from Sullivan tied the game at 55-55 with 1:150 to go in regulation.
A Nolan Adams basket with a minute remaining gave Clay County a 57-55 lead, but Measles answered with a basket with 34 seconds left to tie the game at 57 points each. Clay County got two shots off in the final 5 seconds of regulation, but neither fell as the game went to overtime.
“We played better in the second half, so I told them let’s be the better team for 4 more minutes,” said coach Sullivan. “I’m super proud of them. When we can play like that, but do it for 32 minutes, I feel like we can play with a lot of teams.”
The Bulldogs struck first in overtime, but back-to-back baskets from Sullivan and Measles gave the Eagles a 62-59 lead with 54 seconds remaining. After trading baskets, Van Buren County held a 64-62 lead with 17.7 seconds remaining, where freshman Cody Baker sank two free throws to give his team a two-possession lead at 66-62. The Eagles tacked on a free throw at the end to win by a 67-62 final score.
Van Buren County is back in action on Tuesday as they host White County while Clay County hits the road to Gordonsville.
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