By Michael Lindsay
Youth and inexperience were no barrier to the Pickett County Bobcats Tuesday as they won their season opener at Class 3A Cumberland County, 64-41.
“It was a good win for this team,” said Pickett County head coach Joseph Amonett. “Coach (Taylor) Denney and I scheduled this because we’re similar in we both lost 6 of our top 7 players from last year. Neither of us had any idea what we’d have. I thought it was a good game for our team.”
Pickett County guard Jacob Amonett was red-hot from downtown, scoring 23 points and hitting five three-pointers in the win.
“Jacob played a good game as point guard,” coach Amonett said. “He wasn’t making a lot of shots in the first quarter, but you didn’t see any negative emotions from this team. We’re a team that has to make a lot of 3-pointers. I know we hit a lot of them after we passed on a good shot for a great shot.”
Pickett County’s Gage Harris had 15 points, followed by Eli Reagan with 12.
Cumberland County was led by 12 points from senior Jaxon Reed.
Neither team got off to a fast offensive start as Pickett County led 12-9 after one period.
The Bobcats found their groove on both ends in the second quarter as they outscored the Jets 25-5 to take a commanding 37-14 lead at halftime.
“We struggled to make shots in the first quarter then outscored them 25-5 in the second,” Amonett said. “This team’s got a lot of grit and they really like each other.”
The lead only grew as Pickett County led 48-18 early in the third period and 58-31 going into the final period, where the Bobcats cruised to a 64-41 victory.
Cumberland County falls to 0-1 and hosts Cookeville Friday evening.
The 1-0 Pickett County Bobcats hit the road Saturday.
“We’ve got a tough Van Buren team on Saturday, and I don’t know if there’s a harder place to go play than Van Buren County,” Amonett said. “We’re just taking it one day at a time and trying to get 1% better every day. We’re trying to find a way to be a little better Saturday than we were today.”
Pickett County (64): Jacob Amonett 23, Gage Harris 15, Eli Reagan 12, Dylan Anderson 6, Caden Miller 4, Payne Burton 4
Cumberland County (41): Jaxon Reed 12, Braeden Woodard 7, Sol Sitton 6, Nolen Carter 4, Josh Sliger 3, Noah Ledbetter 3, Braden Templeton 2, Ethan Dixon 2, Braden Leviner 2
