NEWPORT-The recently released basketball schedule for Cocke County High School is one of the toughest in school history.

In addition to a revamped District 2-AAA schedule, which has jumped from 10 to 14 games with an addition of two schools to the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference, the school also faces a challenging non-conference slate.

CCHS will play a home-and-home non-conference series with Greeneville, South Greene and Farragut this year, in addition to Hall of Fame games with Lenoir City and Volunteer.

The team opens the season with a Hall of Fame contest at Lenoir City on November 17 and then plays Volunteer on November 21 in Newport, before jumping into the regular season. Hall of Fame games are considered exhibition by the TSSAA, but the governing body allows teams to count the wins and losses in those games at their discretion.

Following the pair of Hall of Fame games, CCHS travels to the WazooSports.com Classic at Knox Central over Thanksgiving, then jumps into District 2-AAA play at Seymour on December 1. Cocke County opens their conference slate by playing four of their first six games on the road.

Cocke County is also involved in a pair of Christmas Holiday tournaments this year. The Fighting Cocks will travel to Midway High School in Roane County for the Midway Christmas Classic on December 26 and 28-29.

The Lady Red were invited back to the GreenBank Ladies Classic for the second consecutive year. The 16-team invitational event runs December 28-31 at Hal Henard Gymnasium in Greeneville.

The team returns from Christmas with eight of their first nine games in conference play, including a January 8 showdown with Morristown West. The schedule closes with three non-conference games before jumping into the postseason.

The District 2-AAA tournament will be held at Morristown East High School this year, while the site for the Region 1-AAA tournament's semifinals and finals has yet to be determined, but will be hosted by District 2.

2009-10 CCHS Basketball Schedule

Tuesday, Nov. 17 @ Lenoir City (HALL OF FAME) 6 PM

Saturday, Nov. 21 vs. Volunteer (HALL OF FAME) 6 PM

November 23/24/27/28 - WazooSports.com Classic @ Knox Central

Tuesday, Dec. 1 - @ Seymour*

Thursday, Dec. 3 - South Greene

Friday, December 4 - @ South Doyle*

Tuesday, December 8 - Morristown East*

Friday, December 11 - Sevier County*

Tuesday, December 15 - @ Cherokee*

Friday, December 18 - @ Jefferson County*

Monday, December 21 - @ Farragut

December 26/28/29 - Boys at Midway Christmas Tournament

December 28/29/30/31 - Girls at GreenBank Ladies Classic

Friday, January 8 - Morristown West*

Tuesday, January 12 - Seymour*

Thursday, January 14 - Greeneville

Friday, January 15 - South Doyle*

Tuesday, January 19 - @ Morristown East*

Friday, January 22 - @ Sevier County*

Tuesday, January 26 - Cherokee*

Friday, January 29 - Jefferson County*

Friday, February 5 - @ Morristown West*

Tuesday, February 9 - @ South Greene

Thursday, February 11 - @ Greeneville

Friday, February 12 - Farragut

February 15-23: District 2-AAA Tournament @ Morristown East

February 26-March 4: Region 1-AAA Tournament @ TBA

Note: All regular season varsity games tip-off at 6:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Lady Red junior point guard Morgan Buda drives to the basket in Tuesday's
71-56 win over Sevier County. Buda had 11 points in the winning effort.

NEWPOR-The 2008-09 basketball season opened with a sense of excitement on Cocke County High School on Tuesday night.

The season also opened with a pair of wins for the school over Sevier County High in a TSSAA Hall of Champions contest.

The Lady Red defeated the Lady Bears 71-56 in the debut of coach Wade Wester on the Lady Red bench. In the evening's other tilt, the Fighting Cocks used a comeback effort to defeat the Bears 61-59.

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©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Senior post Barry Huffhines (left) scored 12 points of the bench in a 66-63 loss to Morristown East on Friday night.

NEWPORT-While structure can always provide a plan of attack, sometimes the best attack can be just plain chaos.

That's what worked best for the Cocke County Lady Red on Friday night.

Cocke County ventured from a structured offensive attack to run-and-gun their way to a 36-point second half in dispatching the Lady Hurricanes of Morristown East 65-45 in an Inter Mountain Athletic Conference clash.

Later in the evening, the Hurricanes overcame a six-point deficit in the final minutes to steal a 66-63 win over the Fighting Cocks.

Cocke County's high powered offense was led by senior wing Courtney Lewis, who scored 18 points on a 7-of-12 night from the field. Lewis' performance was a rebound after being held scoreless in Tuesday's conference opener at Morristown West.

"I have had some bad games," Lewis said. "I knew I had to step up, these girls look up to me, I have to step and play my game.

"I can't worry about anything else," Lewis said. "I have to pep everyone up even if I have a bad game. I have to worry about the team, not myself."

Lady Red (8-2, 1-1) coach Wade Wester said that he challenged Lewis and fellow senior Alex Suggs to play like seniors on Friday night against the Lady Hurricanes (3-4, 0-2). Lewis and Suggs, who average a combined 17 points per game, were held 13 points below that average against the Lady Trojans.

"I told both my seniors to play like seniors," Wester said. "I was very impressed with the way Alex and Courtney played tonight."

Wester said he was particularly glad to see Lewis respond to the adversity on the heels of Tuesday's game.

"Courtney played well and I was glad to see it," Wester said. "She felt like she let us down, she was visibly upset the other night.

"She came out (Friday) and she played like a senior," Wester said.

Lewis' 18 points were a season-high and part of a three headed offensive monster for the Lady Red, which included a pair of double-doubles.

Shannon Depew continued her All-Conference caliber season with a 15-point, 15-rebound night and Allie Sprouse contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds.

However, it was the run-and-gun attack of the second half that made the Lady Red turn a three-point halftime lead into a 20-point margin of victory.

"We were setting up and running too much offense," Wester said. "I told the girls (at halftime) that we have to run and go. Once we started attacking, then we began pulling away.

"We quit worrying about running plays, we just started attacking. We wanted to score as many points as we could in the second half," Wester said. "I think they kind of relaxed. When they set up a play, they are thinking so much that it gets them out of their rhythm."

Lewis said that she felt as if the team was better suited to running the unstructured form of offense it displayed during the second half.

"Our team is a run-and-gun team, we just want to push the ball," Lewis said. "We're not a team that settles down and runs plays.

"Once we get our momentum going, and run hard, we start playing a lot better," Lewis said. "We may have some more turnovers, but we're a lot better."

While the Lady Red used a high paced attack to outscore the Lady Hurricanes 36-19 over the final 16 minutes of the game, the Lady Red's ball security remained just the same as if they were in a conventional offense. The team committed only five turnovers the entire game, with four coming in the final nine minutes of the game.

Wester attributed the ball security to solid point guard play.

"When we have one turnover, the point guard is taking care of the basketball and getting it to the right spot," Wester said. "We took care of the ball and we were smart."

Starting point guard Morgan Buda had a solid eight-point outing, while also recording eight assists - as the 5-foot-3 junior continues to lead the conference in total assists with 56. Sophomore Jayla Lane also recorded more minutes at the point guard slot on Friday after Buda was saddled with foul trouble most of the first half from her aggressive defensive play.

The Lady Hurricanes did make one run on the Lady Red late in the second half, piecing together a 12-5 run over the final 4:08 of the half to pull within three at the break. However a stingy Lady Red defense limited Morristown East to six second half field goals. Four of the shots came from leading scorer Samantha Hale, who led all scorers with 19 points, including four three-point shots.

Cocke County (65): Courtney Lewis 18, Shannon Depew 15, Allie Sprouse 12, Morgan Buda 8, Alex Suggs 6, Nicole Ball 4, Kendra Walker 2.

Morristown East (45): Samantha Hale 19, Leah Leeper 13, Megan Blaylock 6, Britney Turner 3, Emilie Hensley 2, Kayla Orrick 2.

CCHS: 27/61 FG (44.3%), 10/21 FT (47.6%), 1/6 3-PT FG (16.6%), 34 RBS, 6 TO.

MEHS: 16/45 FG (35.5%), 8/15 FT (53.3%), 5/12 3-PT FG (41.6%), 22 RBS, 13 TO.

Last-minute zaps Fighting Cocks

The goal of the conference schedule is to hold serve at home and steal a couple of wins on the road in order to jockey for tournament seeding.

Friday's result may be painful. It may be even more painful when the tournament tips off in mid-February.

The Fighting Cocks (4-4, 1-1) saw a three-point lead evaporate over a 19 second period as Morristown East (7-1, 2-0) mounted a furious comeback to win 66-63 after trailing the entire fourth quarter.

Fighting Cocks coach Ray Evans said it was a tough result to stomach.

"I'm proud of my guys for fighting, but I'm kind of disappointed (about) the end," Evans said. "It's hard to lose one like that."

Cocke County twice had large leads in the game, opening up an eight point advantage, the largest for any team in the game, with 5:15 left in the first half. However, the Hurricanes countered with a 15-6 run to take a 30-29 lead at halftime.

"When we got that lead, we relaxed, we stopped playing, we stopped attacking on offense, which is how we got the lead, we went and attacked the rim and they couldn't guard us," Evans said. "That was one of those stagnant periods in the game, where we dribbled the ball back and forth and just stopped attacking."

Cocke County spent most of the third quarter chasing the Hurricanes and it was the second five of Evans' five-in, five-out rotation that caught them and eventually gave the Big Red their first lead of the second half.

Evans' bench mob was led by Barry Huffhines, who scored 12 points and had six rebounds in place of Hunter Dockery, who was in foul trouble all night. In all, the Fighting Cocks received 26 points off the bench.

"The second group came in tonight and played well," Evans said. "They had a bit of an off game at West, but tonight they stepped up and played well. They got us back in the game and got us a lead."

Cocke County regained the lead at a 43-42 margin with 20 seconds remaining in the third quarter and built up to a six point advantage with 3:53 remaining in the game.

The Hurricanes battled back, but the Big Red still held a 58-53 edge with 2:53 to play, when the Fighting Cocks kept attacking the basket with penetration from their guards and missing shots, which opened the door for the opponents to strike.

East tied the game at 58 with 1:36 to play, but Marcus Stewart, who led Cocke County with 13 points, countered with a three-point play at the 1:07 mark to give his team a lead. However, a quick basket by Casey Smith, who led all scorers with 23 points, put Cocke County up by one and two following turnovers allowed the Canes to grab a 62-61 lead.

Then controversy ensued.

Evans, who was growing agitated at the games officiating crew for the balance in foul calls in the second half, was whistled for a technical foul following the second turnover and subsequent foul call on Josh Wice. East converted three of the four free-throws to claim a 65-61 lead with 46.4 seconds to play.

"I threw my hands up in the air (saying) that enough is enough," Evans said of what he did when he drew the technical foul. "They'll say I shouldn't have gotten the technical, and I shouldn't have, but the game shouldn't have been close when we were pulling ahead.

"Marcus Stewart is one of the best shooters in the league and he shoots two air balls two feet from the basket, that isn't going to happen," Evans said. "They're all over his arms, pushing him in the back.

"We are on our home floor and the visiting team shoots 36 free throws to our 14," Evans said, explaining his feelings on the officiating.

Cocke County never recovered after the five-point trip for East, pulling as close as 65-63 with less than 25 seconds remaining and had a final game-tying three-point shot by Stewart bounce off the rim as time expired.

Morristown East (66): Casey Smith 23, Justin Sandifer 14, Walker Bullington 10, Austin Snapp 9, Austin Gardner 6, Brian Coy 4.

Cocke County (63): Marcus Stewart 13, Barry Huffhines 12, Travis Glenn 8, Jeramie Haney 8, William Carmichael 6, Dustin Ball 5, Hunter Dockery 4, Kurt Brooks 3, Casey Ragan 2, Jake Green 2.

MEHS: 15/49 FG (30.6%), 22/36 FT (61.1%), 6/18 3-PT FG (33.3%), 30 RBS, 25 TO.

CCHS: 27/66 FG (40.9%), 6/14 FT (42.8%), 1/11 3-PT FG (9.1%), 27 RBS, 15 TO.

Up Next: Cocke County returns to action on Tuesday night for their final Inter Mountain Athletic Conference contest of the calendar year when they host the Cherokee High Chiefs and Lady Chiefs. Tip-off of varsity action is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
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©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Cocke County's Casey Ragan dribbles through traffic in a Wednesday night loss to Roanoke Catholic at the LandAir Tipoff Classic in Greeneville.

GREENEVILLE-A rough start took the Cocke County Fighting Cocks out of contention in their Wednesday night semifinal of the LandAir Tip-off Classic.

A 27-point first quarter by Roanoke Catholic (Virginia) gave the Celtics an insurmountable lead, that the Fighting Cocks could never close to within a 10 point margin.

Cocke County did close the gap to 12 late in the second half, but dropped the contest by a 75-60 score to Roanoke Catholic.

The Big Red (3-1) raced out to a 3-0 lead in the game

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©2009 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Jeramie Haney goes up for two of his nine points in a win over Greeneville on Friday.
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NEWPORT-The Greeneville Greene Devils almost lulled the Fighting Cocks to sleep.

Giving Cocke County a 20-point cushion and mustering only 21 points through three quarters of play, the Greene Devils were putting the Big Red right where they wanted them.

Greeneville rattled off a 24-8 run over an eight minute span to cut the lead to four points, before the Fighting Cocks woke up from their slumber to put the Devils away by a 54-47 margin.

Cocke County (10-3, 4-1) claims sole possession of second place in the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference with the win, and stands one-game behind Morristown East in the loss column.

"We held them down good for three quarters, and got to their shooters," Cocke County coach Ray Evans said of the way his team played through three quarters. "Give them credit, we got in their face and they made three or four big shots.

"Our guys didn't quit," Evans said. "We got a little shaky there for awhile, but we finished the game and got to the line and made some free-throws."

Greeneville (14-6, 3-2) got out to an early 7-3 lead early in the game, but Cocke County recovered and outscored the Devils 20-6 over the final 11:18 of the first half.

That run was part of an offensive and defensive effort that saw the Fighting Cocks eventually build a 39-19 lead with 53 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Cocke County controlled the game's defensive side, not giving the Devils good shots and then limiting them to one shot per possession. The Big Red held a 23-rebound advantage over their opponents, drastically limiting what the opponent was able to do in terms of second chance points.

Evans said his defense was just doing the same thing they had done all year.

"We didn't do anything special," Evans said. "We just made sure we got to the shooters, and collapsed when they penetrated.

"Our defense played well, we rebounded well and limited them to one shot," Evans said.  "I couldn't be more proud of the guys on their effort on defense."

However, the Devils quickly made some kinks in the defensive armor of the Fighting Cocks when point guard Braylon Lloyd drained a three-point basket at the horn, trimming the lead to 39-22.

Although Lloyd made the basket, Greeneville coach Bill Duncan laid into Bryan Everhart for not taking a shot and that he needed to shoot if he was not going to play defense.

Everhart obliged his coach's wishes by knocking down three of the next four three-point shots he attempted. Everhart's performance from long-range came when the Devils had notched only two three-point baskets through three quarters.

The Greene Devils were only 8-of-27 from the floor in the first three periods. Greeneville struggled for offense and did not break double digits in any quarter except the fourth.

However, it was the fourth quarter that allowed the Devils to race back into the game with a 24-8 run that saw the Devils pull as close as four points. Greeneville did most of their damage from the free-throw line and behind the arc in the run.

Most of the damage came via turnovers, as Cocke County committed seven turnovers in the period, after giving up the basketball only 10 times through three quarters.

Evans said he told his team just to relax and play the way they had played all game during the midst of the Greeneville run, which necessitated a pair of Cocke County timeouts.

"I told them we were starting to play scared a little bit," Evans said. "They just were a little timid and soft on their passes.

"Their eyes were as big as quarters and they started panicking a little bit, so I just tried to keep them calm, and told them to smile and relax," Evans said. "I told them we're still playing and have fun and attack the basket like we have all game."

The Devils made things increasingly interesting after Evans was whistled for a technical foul for being outside the coaches box and then Jordan Short drained a three-point basket with 2:03 to play to cut Cocke County's lead to 47-43.

Cocke County's Luke Ottinger and Marcus Stewart converted six consecutive free throws at the line over the next minute to stabilize the Cocke County lead and claim the crucial home court victory.

Cocke County (54): Marcus Stewart 11, Jeramie Haney 9, Casey Ragan 7, Luke Ottinger 6, Chris James 6, Dustin Ball 5, Travis Glenn 4, Hunter Dockery 4, Barry Huffhines 2.

Greeneville (47): Jordan Short 13, Bryan Everhart 13, Braylon Lloyd 8, Wes Quarles 5, Troy Hopson 5, Trey Anderson 4.

CCHS: 19/50 FG (38%), 13/21 FT (61.9%), 2/8 3-PT FG (25%), 43 RBS, 17 TO.

GHS: 14/42 FG (33.3%), 14/23 FT (60.8%), 6/17 3-PT FG (35.3%), 20 RBS, 13 TO.

IMAC Action: In other conference games, Morristown West, under the direction of assistant coach Tracy Beets, defeated Jefferson County 73-49 and Morristown East squeaked by Cherokee 54-48 in Rogersville.

Friday's action leaves the conference standings at the mid-point of the season as: Morristown East (5-0), Cocke County (4-1), Greeneville (3-2), Cherokee (2-3), Morristown West (2-3) and Jefferson County (0-5).

JV Boys Win: The Cocke County junior varsity boys continued a stellar season on Friday with a 62-59 comeback win. The Fighting Cocks trailed by as many as 15 to take the lead, only to see the Devils tie the game in the final 10 seconds. However, Kurt Brooks banked in a 25-foot shot as time expired to win the game.

Up Next: Cocke County has a seven-day layoff until Morristown West visits next Friday. Tip-off is scheduled to begin at approximately 8 p.m.
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DANDRIDGE-A mid-week road trip yielded important results for the Lady Red and Fighting Cocks of Cocke County High School.

Both teams earned victories, setting up showdowns for sole possession of second place in the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference when Greeneville visits Newport on Friday night.

The Lady Red earned a tough fought 66-50 win over the Lady Patriots behind double figure outings from Morgan Buda and Courtney Lewis. Cocke County was 35-of-48 from the free-throw line in the victory.

In the nightcap, the Fighting Cocks used another solid offensive performance to land four players in double figures in beating the Patriots 79-61.

Fighting Cocks offensive again

A 15-day layoff was not enough to slow down the Cocke County Fighting Cocks.

Playing their last game on December 22, Cocke County (8-4, 3-1) was in the midst of a three-game stretch of scoring over 70 points.

The Fighting Cocks two-week long layoff did little to kill the positive momentum built on a four-game win streak. Cocke County's 79 points in a win over the Patriots (3-10, 0-4) is the highest offensive output all season for the Big Red.

"I wasn't sure how we were going to play if we were going to be rusty," Cocke County coach Ray Evans said. "As far as offensively, we moved the ball well. Our offense isn't very hard anyways. I thought they executed it really well."

The Fighting Cocks placed four players in double figures and received 25 points off the bench in one of their finest all-around efforts of the season.

Senior Travis Glenn got the Big Red out to a 21-point first quarter, with a 4-of-5 performance from the field, helping his team out to a large early lead that the team would not relinquish.

Despite Glenn's fluctuating performances in the scoring column, Evans said the guard is the pivotal player in the starting line-up.

"He's a key player (and) everybody knows it," Evans said. "Some nights it is scoring, other nights he may not score a point, but he'll have 8 or 10 rebounds. He's a cornerstone of what we do here."

Joining Glenn in double figures were guards Casey Ragan and Marcus Stewart - both of whom continue to benefit from the switch of moving Stewart to shooting guard, which coincided with the team's current four-game win streak.

Stewart has averaged 16 points per outing since the move and Ragan has benefited from the move as well. The 5-foot-5 starting point guard ran the offense with minimal turnovers in the game, and also opened up his shooting from the field, knocking down four three-point baskets.

Included in the four three-point shots was a half court heave to beat the buzzer of the third period, which gave the Fighting Cocks a 62-43 lead.

"I've been waiting on (Ragan) to do that all year," Evans said. "Last year he always came through and made a big shot here and there. He played well tonight."

Jeramie Haney also contributed with 11, giving the Big Red a combined 25 total points off the bench, which continues to deepen this season. Evans inserted all 13 players who dressed in the game at some point, and the bench also benefited from the return of senior Luke Ottinger, who has not played since the third game of the season after sustaining a broken hand.

Despite the lopsided final margin, the Patriots played close with the Big Red for a half, closing to within 28-25 with 3:00 remaining in the second quarter. Cocke County closed the quarter with an 11-4 run, backed by two Ragan three-point shots to widen their margin back to 11.

Cocke County's largest lead of the night was 19 at the end of three quarters.

Cocke County (79): Travis Glenn 20, Marcus Stewart 14, Casey Ragan 12, Jeramie Haney 11, Luke Ottinger 5, Dustin Ball 4, Hunter Dockery 4, Chris James 3, Barry Huffhines 2, Holden Collett 2, William Carmichael 1, Kurt Brooks 1.

Jefferson County (61): Sam Hodge 16, Nate Sherrod 14, Austin Collins 8, Ondes Webster 6, Anthony Goins 4, Dusty Nickles 4, Elliott Satterfield 2, Evan Kirkpatrick 2.

CCHS: 28/56 FG (50%), 18/27 FT (66.7%), 5/11 3-PT FG (45.5%), 37 RBS, 16 TO.

JCHS: 19/51 FG (37.3%), 12/22 FT (54.5%), 6/21 3-PT FG (28.8%), 25 RBS, 19 TO.

Lady Red win tough game at free-throw line.

With the Lady Red's offensive execution at a standstill, Cocke County was the beneficiary of the free-throw line in obtaining their third conference victory of the season over the Lady Patriots (10-6, 2-2).

The Lady Red (15-3, 3-1) visited the charity stripe 48 times and converted 35 of the shots to help win the marathon game, which featured 69 free throws and 51 fouls between the two teams.

Cocke County hit only six field goals in the second half, but still widened their margin from a four-point halftime lead to a 16-point victory with a multitude of trips to the free-throw line.

Cocke County coach Wade Wester said the lack of offense in the game stemmed from a lack of execution from the team in feeding the ball into the post players.

"We're so good, we just don't execute a lot," Wester said. "When we decide to execute, good things happen.

"I felt like our post players would dominate and we didn't," Wester said. "Maybe that's my fault for not executing the right way.

"It's just us deciding to execute and getting the ball to our (posts) and when that happens, I really believe that we can be the best team in the conference. If we don't, we will be the third best team in the conference."

Cocke County received a total of 17 points from post players Shannon Depew, Jalese Pruitt and Allie Sprouse, but only received eight points from shots from the field.

While the lack of getting the ball to the post was evident, the guard and wing play from Cocke County was again solid.

Junior point guard Morgan Buda led all scorers with 22 points in the game, with a 4-of-9 night from the field. Buda's scoring production combined with her second half against Shelbyville has her with 36 points in her last six quarters of action.

Senior wing Courtney Lewis also followed her strong outing against Shelbyville with an 18-point performance after a strong second half. Lewis was 4-of-4 from the floor in the second half, and knocked down numerous free throws in the final eight minutes.

Lewis also had the biggest basket of the game on a three-point play with 4:54 remaining that propelled the team to an 11-3 run over a three minute span. The pivotal run widened a 46-40 Cocke County advantage to a 61-43 margin with 1:12 remaining.

Lewis and Buda were also a combined 16-of-19 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

Wester was complimentary of both of his team's high scorers games.

"Morgan when she sets her mind offensively, things go good for us and it also cuts out on her turnovers," Wester said. "We know to get the ball to Courtney at the end. And she's a great free-throw shooter."

The team also overcame a slow night by leading scorer Shannon Depew. The 5-foot-11 junior was held to nine points and only one field goal offensively. Depew did lead all players in rebounds with 15.

"Shannon didn't have her best game and we still win by 16," Wester said. "That's what good teams do."

Cocke County (66): Morgan Buda 22, Courtney Lewis 18, Shannon Depew 9, Alex Suggs 6, Jalese Pruitt 4, Allie Sprouse 4, Kendra Walker 3.

Jefferson County (50): Haley Nelson 18, Lauren Lyke 9, Lacy Miller 7, Jordan Batey 6, Chelsea Whiteside 4, Dez Huff 4, Shannon Trentham 2.

CCHS: 15/38 FG (39.5%), 35/48 FT (72.9%), 1/6 3-PT FG (16.7%), 42 RBS, 14 TO.

JCHS: 14/45 FG (31.1%), 16/21 FT (76.2%), 3/13 3-PT FG (23.1%), 22 RBS, 14 TO.

IMAC Action: Two other conference games dotted the slate of IMAC action in the fourth of 10 conference dates this season.

In girl's action, two blowouts in Morristown were the story. Morristown West continued their perfect conference mark with a 63-22 win over Cherokee. Greeneville dominated Morristown East with a 66-28 win.

Girl's standings have Morristown West (4-0) atop the conference with Greeneville (3-1) and Cocke County (3-1) tied for second. Jefferson County (2-2) is fourth and Cherokee (0-4) and Morristown East (0-4) are fifth.

In boy's games, Morristown East upset Greeneville 47-42 and Cherokee topped Morristown West.

Morristown East (4-0) is atop the boy's league, with Greeneville (3-1) and Cocke County (3-1) in second. Cherokee (2-2) is fourth, Morristown West (1-3) is fifth and the Patriots (0-4) are sixth.

On Deck: Cocke County returns to action on Friday night as they host Greeneville in a pair of pivotal games. Each game is for sole possession of second place.

Tip-off of varsity action is set for 6:30 p.m. (WLIK 1270-AM). Fans are encouraged to wear black by school officials as part of a black out. A limited number of shirts will be distributed at the door on a first-come, first-serve basis.
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©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Fighting Cocks forward Dustin Ball goes up for a shot against the Highlanders of Gatlinburg-Pittman Thursday night.

NEWPORT-Drama-filled games were not on the agenda at Cocke County High School Thursday night.

However, a defensive clinic was on the schedule for both the Fighting Cocks and Lady Red.

The Lady Red smothered Gatlinburg-Pittman in forcing 32 turnovers in a commanding 80-47 win over the Lady Highlanders. Meanwhile, the Fighting Cocks adjusted to a hot-shooting Highlanders squad and pulled away in the second half for a 73-49 victory.

Fighting Cocks adjust on defense

After a quarter of play, the Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders (5-4) looked as if they were going to shoot with a hot hand and run neck-and-neck with the Fighting Cocks (7-4). At the end of the night, the Highlanders were on the wrong end of a 73-49 score.

Gatlinburg opened the night shooting 43 percent from three-point range, and trailing the Big Red by only three points after the opening stanza. The rest of the night was a different story for the Highlanders, as they shot 29.6 percent and were watching Cocke County reserves outscore them over the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Cocke County used a solid second half of defensive adjustments and an efficient offense to put up 44 points on the Highlanders.

Fourth-year Fighting Cocks coach Ray Evans said that he kept encouraging his team to get out on the shooters during the game's first half.

"We left them open a lot in the first half and they were making (their shots)," Evans said. "I kept telling our guys to stress defense, talking (to their teammates) and getting to the shooters. I think we got to them.

"We did a better job of that in the second half and I think (Gatlinburg) was getting tired in the second half because we kept them in an up-tempo game," Evans said. "Our defense stepped up and we rebounded the ball a whole lot better in the second half."

Cocke County held a 21-7 rebounding edge over the Highlanders during the final 16 minutes of the game. Most of the rebounds came via the offensive glass, which Cocke County secured with the help from a big night from senior center Hunter Dockery.

The six-foot-4 Dockery scored 11 points and corralled seven rebounds, for his second straight double figure scoring performance. Included in Dockery's night were five straight points to open the second half, spurring the Fighting Cocks on a 12-3 run that broke the game open. Junior Marcus Stewart, who again got his second consecutive start at shooting guard, scored seven of his team-high 14 points during the 12-3 run to open the half.

Cocke County's offense continued its efficiency committing only five of their nine turnovers in the second half and posting 44 points, their second highest half of offensive production this season.

Evans said the reason for that was largely in part to his team's excellent ball security, allowing them to get more shots from the floor.

"I keep trying to stress to the guys how many more possessions we can have, or just shots on the baskets, instead of turning it over," Evans said. "We scored 73 tonight and that's the reason.

"We weren't shooting great, but we were getting shots off and getting boards and putting them back in," Evans said.

Cocke County's half of offensive production widened a 29-25 halftime advantage into a 53-35 lead after three quarters, by outscoring the Highlanders 24-10. Gatlinburg Pittman's Alex Hinton, who led the Highlanders in scoring earlier this month at Cosby, picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and was a non-factor for much of the contest.

Cocke County (73): Marcus Stewart 14, Hunter Dockery 11, Kurt Brooks 10, Casey Ragan 8, Josh Wice 6, Barry Huffhines 6, Dustin Ball 5, Jeramie Haney 5, Chris James 4, William Carmichael 2, Travis Glenn 2.

Gatlinburg-Pittman (49): Taylor Ogle 16, McKinney Maples 13, Drew Barton 4, Cody Tweed 3, Jeremy Hibbard 3, Marcus Watson 3, Alex Hinton 3, Hagen Sims 2, Nathan Cantrell 2.

CCHS: 27/56 FG (48.2%), 14/18 FT (77.8%), 5/14 3-PT FG (35.7%), 33 RBS, 9 TO.

GPHS: 17/53 FG (32.1%), 7/9 FT (77.8%), 8/27 3-PT FG (29.6%), 24 RBS, 14 TO.

Unsatisfied Lady Red tough on defense

The Cocke County Lady Red have defeated their past three opponents by a combined 103 points. They have forced 63 turnovers in the past two games.

Call them a good team. Call them an intense, defensive-minded squad. But don't call them a satisfied team.

That was the mantra after the Lady Red (10-2) easily dispatched of the Lady Highlanders (3-5) in convincing fashion on Thursday evening. Cocke County obtained the easy victory by running out to a 50-17 halftime edge behind the strength of sophomore forward Allie Sprouse's 16 first half points.

Defense was also the front-runner in the team's first half, as the Lady Red forced 19 first half turnovers, including nine steals by point guard Morgan Buda. Buda leads the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference in total steals and assists, and has compiled 17 steals over the past two games.

Her teammate Shannon Depew said that her team's defense is a product of the continual stressing of defensive intensity by the coaching staff.

"Our defense has played phenomenal this year," Depew said. "We just need to keep doing that and we will keep winning. We have to keep our defense up."

Cocke County continued their resilience, forcing another 13 turnovers in the second half, despite sitting the starting five for over 12 minutes in the second half.

Despite the ease of which their past three victories have came, first-year coach Wade Wester told his team not to be satisfied with their past three victories, but to strive for higher goals.

"I told these girls that last year we played at the level of the team we were playing," Wester said. "I didn't want that to be us. I want to play at a different level than (our opponents).

"That's what we're trying to shoot for, is to get to that level where we don't play at (our opponents level), but we play at our level and that's a different level than anybody else," Wester said.

Wester said his team needed to strive to improve to the level of a Morristown West or Greeneville, both of which were favored to win the conference regular season crown along with Cocke County.

"I am so scared because last year this team won a lot of games and I never saw improvement," Wester said. "Improvement is what I'm chasing, even when we win.

"It's so easy to get settled in and being good and being satisfied. I don't want that to happen. I want to be more than just good," Wester said. "I want to be Morristown West-good, I want to be Greeneville-good.

"I'm trying to get at a level these girls haven't been at and that's what I'm trying to teach and preach everyday," Wester said.

The Lady Red get their opportunity to reach that level over their next two games, playing a solid Heritage program on Monday and then facing off with defending Class AAA State Champion Wilson Central in the opening round of the GreenBank Ladies Classic on December 27.

Cocke County (80): Allie Sprouse 16, Shannon Depew 11, Nicole Ball 9, CJ Ball 8, Courtney Lewis 8, Jalese Pruitt 7, Ashley Clevenger 6, Alex Suggs 5, Morgan Buda 4, Jayla Lane 4, Jordan Kohnke 2.

Gatlinburg Pittman (47): Leah Bryan 10, Jacklyn Hardin 7, Caroline Conner 6, Lacee Tinker 6, Alisha Johnson 5, Stephanie Taylor 4, Macy Shults 4, Brea Owens 3, Morgan Dodgen 2.

CCHS: 33/56 FG (58.9%), 13/15 FT (86.6%), 2/3 3-PT FG (66.7%), 31 RBS, 20 TO.

GPHS: 18/37 FG (48.6%), 10/21 FT (47.6%), 1/3 3-PT FG (33.3%), 17 RBS, 32 TO.

Up Next: Cocke County returns to the hardwood on Monday, when they host Heritage High School. Tip-off of varsity action is set for 6:30 p.m.
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©2009 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Cocke County senior Alex Suggs hugs head coach Wade Wester following the Lady Red's 45-42 victory over Greeneville Friday night in Newport. It was the first time in nearly two decades that the Lady Red defeated the Lady Devils.

NEWPORT-With the game against Greeneville on the line,Shannon Depew stepped to the free-throw line at Cocke County High School onFriday night.

She had been there before.

At the free-throw line. Against Greeneville. The game onthe line.

As a freshman, Depew missed the front-end of a bonus freethrow. Greeneville won the game by a one-point margin and advanced to thedistrict tournament championship.

As a junior, Depew stepped to the line with 10.1 secondsremaining. Her team was up by a single point. Against Greeneville. The game wason the line.

Depew swished both free-throws; giving her team athree-point lead and the team did not allow the Lady Devils a clean look,giving Cocke County their first win over Greeneville in nearly 20 years by a45-42 score. The Lady Red claimed sole possession of second place in the InterMountain Athletic Conference with the win.

"I did not want to let go of the basketball there atthe end," Depew said. "I wanted to make the free-throws and make upfor my freshman year."

Her teammate Morgan Buda, who scored nine points in thewin, said that she had faith in Depew to knock down the free-throws.

"We knew she was going to make them," Budasaid. "We knew it before she even got on the line.

"That was payback," Buda said. "The firstthing she said when we got in the locker room was 'I did that for myself. Ineeded to prove to myself that in situations that I can step up'."

Cocke County (16-3, 4-1) got to the crucial free-throwsituation by overcoming a four-point deficit with 4:51 remaining. The Lady Redused a tough defensive effort to force turnovers and hold Greeneville to only apair of Nicole Dickson free throws.

Dickson led the Lady Devils (12-6, 3-2) with 20 points,but was the only Greeneville player that made much noise during the game. Otherthan Dickson, only Rainey Storey for Greeneville scored more than five points.

Lady Red coach Wade Wester said that while focusing onDickson, they were determined for Greeneville to beat them outside.

"Our goal was for them to beat us outside,"Wester said. "If they were going to beat us, they were going to beat usthere, not inside."

Greeneville did connect on a trio of three-point shots,but Cocke County limited the shots on the inside, allowing most of the 10two-point field goal baskets to come on offensive rebounds.

The game was a low-scoring, nip-and-tuck affair withGreeneville claiming the largest lead of the game at seven points in theopening minutes. Cocke County claimed their first lead early in the thirdquarter and never held a lead of more than four points.

The two teams swapped leads six times in the half, whichalso featured five ties.

Cocke County began to make their final push to the leadwith 3:39 to play; cutting into a 40-36 Lady Devils lead. Buda hit Depew on anassist to give Depew a lay-in, which converted to a three-point play afterDickson picked up her fourth foul.

A minute later, Dickson hit a pair of free throw againgiving her team a 42-39 lead. Buda converted on a lay-up on the nextpossession, but missed the free throw after drawing a foul, pulling the LadyRed within one.

After forcing a turnover during a 40 second possession,junior Jalese Pruitt took Dickson out of the game by drawing her fifth foul andthen gave her team the lead with a pair of free-throws with 51.5 seconds toplay.

Pruitt's effort of an eight-point, seven-rebound outing,came in her first start in a month, as the Lady Red post player was vocal anddemonstrative throughout the game.

Wester said Pruitt's efforts were a sign of her and therest of the team members coming to play.

"Every girl stepped up," Wester said.  "Jalese came in and did what she did.Kendra Walker gave us great defensive minutes. Every single player from ShannonDepew to Jayla Lane came in and did great things."

After Pruitt's free throws, Greeneville ran theirpossession trying to set up for the potential last shot before Depew stole alob pass into the interior, setting up her heroics at the free-throw line.

Cocke County (45): Shannon Depew 12, Morgan Buda 9,Jalese Pruitt 8, Alex Suggs 6, Courtney Lewis 4, Allie Sprouse 4, Nicole Ball2.

Greeneville (42): Nicole Dickson 20, Rainey Story 8,Paige Ramsey 5, Connor Hall 4, Chandler Christopher 3, Jeana Medlin 2.

CCHS: 14/41 FG (34.1%), 17/27 FT (62.9%), 0/5 3-PT FG(0%), 29 RBS, 10 TO

GHS: 13/43 FG (30.2%), 13/19 FT (68.4%), 3/14 3-PT FG(21.4%), 32 RBS, 11 TO.

IMAC Action: In other conference girls action on Friday,Morristown East claimed sole possession of fifth place with a 47-42 win overCherokee and Morristown West maintained a game advantage over Cocke County,with a 56-32 win over Jefferson County.

Conference standings now have: Morristown West (5-0) infirst, Cocke County (4-1) in second, Greeneville (3-2) in third, JeffersonCounty (2-3) in fourth, Morristown East (1-4) in fifth and Cherokee (0-5) insixth.

JV Girls Win: The junior varsity girls of CCHS gotanother victory on the season by defeating the Lady Devils by two points. Thewin continues a season in which the Lady Red have picked up numerous victories.

Up Next: Cocke County attempts to claim a share of firstplace in the Inter Mountain Athletic Conference with a date with MorristownWest Friday night. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m.
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©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Lady Red senior guard Alex Suggs in action against Pigeon Forge on Monday night. Suggs scored nine points and figured in four pivotal plays late in the third quarter, enabling her team to capture their third victory of the season.

NEWPORT-As a season progresses, teams usually find ways to improve.

Both Cocke County High School basketball squads improved in different ways on Monday night in their non-conference tilts with Pigeon Forge.

The Lady Red overcame a dreadful first half where they shot 9-of-39 from the field to run away from Pigeon Forge in the second half for a 57-41 win.

Ray Evans' Fighting Cocks used a 27-point first quarter to top the Tigers 74-51, a drastic improvement from the offensive woes Cocke County sustained on Friday night.

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BLOUNTVILLE-First-year Cocke County Lady Red coach Wade Wester knew coaching girls basketball was going to be a new experience.

He knew it would require a different mindset. He knew it would test him as a coach.

Faced with his first dilemma of the season, Wester passed his the test of the 2008-09 season on Friday night.

With the Lady Red locked in a one-point game at halftime, after leading by as many as 10 earlier in the half, Wester was faced with a locker room full of upset and emotional girls.

Wester pushed the right buttons and saw his team pull away from the Lady Cougars of Sullivan Central to claim a 63-50 victory in a TSSAA Hall of Champions contest. The Fighting Cocks lost their game to Sullivan Central by a 75-62 margin.

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©2008 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Cocke County junior point guard Morgan Buda skies toward the basket in Tuesday's 64-34 win over Cherokee. Buda scored 12 points and recorded eight steals, seven assists and six rebounds in the second IMAC victory of the season.

NEWPORT-There's a saying in sports about offense selling tickets and defense winning championships.

Leave it to the 2008-09 Cocke County Lady Red to change that adage.

Coach Wade Wester sells the tickets and his team's defensive work propels their offensive attack.

The Lady Red caused 31 turnovers and as a result had three players reach double figures for a dominant 64-34 thrashing of the Cherokee Lady Chiefs in Inter Mountain Athletic Conference action. The victory over Cherokee is only the second for Cocke County in the past nine games between the two schools.

In the night's second contest, the Fighting Cocks used a change-up in their starting five to beat the Chiefs 71-60.

The Lady Red (9-2, 2-1) extracted revenge on the Lady Chiefs (3-6, 0-3) for their recent run of success by blitzing the youthful Cherokee squad on defense as Cocke County had a field day, controlling the game from the opening tip.

Cocke County's defense forced 20 more turnovers than they committed and the advantage allowed the Lady Red to attempt 25 more shots from the field than the Lady Chiefs.

Wester said he felt his team was focused on dispatching the Lady Chiefs due to the successes they have had over the Lady Red since the 2005-06 season.

"I think the girls were still thinking about last year, losing to this team in the IMAC tournament and how they beat us," Wester said. "I think they really wanted to prove they were better than Cherokee and that it was almost like a fluke last year and that it wasn't going to happen this year."

Lady Red junior point guard Morgan Buda, who scored 12 points, recorded six rebounds, seven assists and eight steals in the win, said she felt that her team came out more fired up given the recent history between the two teams.

"We want to come out every game with the same intensity as we did the last (but) I felt like we came out with a little more this time because it was Cherokee, and they beat us 2 out of 3 last year, and they were crushing defeats," Buda said. "So we came out a little fired up, and we wanted to show them that we were for real and that we wanted to stop the inside game."

Cherokee did have an advantage on the inside with 6-foot-2 All-Conference sophomore Casey Ryans, but it was the defensive play of Buda that helped diminish that mismatch, recording eight of her team's 19 steals in the game.

Wester said that it was an intensity that starts with his point guard that allows his team to be one of the most solid defensive teams in the league, allowing 48 points per game.

"It always starts with Morgan up top and just her intensity," Wester said. "Our team starts with intensity. We knew we had mismatches. We knew we were better than them with guard play.

"That's why we did what we did tonight by overplaying them and getting after it," Wester said.

Buda says her intensity level stays so high on the defensive end because that's the only constant she knows that she will have every night.

"People are going to have off nights on offense (but) defense is a constant," Buda said. "You can keep the same intensity no matter what, even if you're having a horrible game.

"Some of our people today didn't have a good game - but it didn't matter because we were still going hard," Buda said.

Cocke County took it hard to the Lady Chiefs, rolling out to a 30-12 halftime lead, despite missing numerous easy shots during the opening half.

"We scored 60 something points tonight, but we still probably missed 20 easy points," Wester said, "We still haven't played our best (game) yet."

The Lady Red continued to expand their lead in the second half, leading by as many as 32 after jumping on the Lady Chiefs quickly to start the fourth quarter. Cocke County used a 19-point fourth quarter to roll to their easiest victory of the season.

The offensive attack was led by three players in double figures, including Shannon Depew's 15 points, contributing to her ninth double-double of the year. Depew had 12 rebounds, a pair of blocks and four steals to compliment her 6-of-11 night from the floor.

Allie Sprouse had 13 points in the winning effort to go along with Buda's 12. Ten of Cocke County's 12 players scored in the win, showing an unselfish brand of basketball as the team had twice as many assists as turnovers.

Buda said the approach in distributing the basketball and playing unselfishly came from a desire to post wins and not eye-popping offensive stats by her and her teammates.

"I'm trying really hard to get everyone involved on the offense," Buda said. "We're not trying to be superstars; we're just trying to win."

Cocke County (64): Shannon Depew 15, Allie Sprouse 13, Morgan Buda 12, Jalese Pruitt 6, Jayla Lane 6, Alex Suggs 5, Ashley Clevenger 3, Nicole Ball 2, Kendra Walker 1, Courtney Lewis 1.

Cherokee (34): Casey Ryans 12, Lindsee Price 6, Christina Maddox 4, Courtney Davis 3, Krisha Mohan 3, Katianne Cupp 2, Brittany Johnson 2, Whitney Gilbert 2.

CCHS: 25/64 FG (39.1%), 12/21 FT (57.1%), 2/4 3-PT FG (50%), 39 RBS, 11 TO.

CHS: 12/39 FG (30.7%), 10/14 FT (71.4%), 0/5 3-PT FG (0%), 26 RBS, 31 TO.

Fighting Cocks use change-up to bounce back

Instead of worrying about the opponents, the Fighting Cocks went to work in practice on Monday focusing on the one thing they can control: themselves.

Cocke County focused on what their strengths are and concentrated on what they do best, instead of what their opponents do and do not do well.

That strategy paid off with a win on Tuesday night. Cocke County (6-4, 2-1) attacked early and often in claiming their second victory in conference play and downed Cherokee (4-5, 1-2) by a 71-60 margin.

Fighting Cocks coach Ray Evans said that by making focusing on themselves, it was going to force teams to try and stop their best attack.

"We're going to stop worrying about other teams do and what their strengths are, and just concentrate on us and what we do best and just go," Evans said. "If other teams stop us, they stop us.

"We took that attitude tonight. We ran and pushed it and they couldn't stop us. They couldn't keep us out of the paint."

Keeping the Fighting Cocks out of the paint proved problematic for the Chiefs, who struggled to keep up with a tough match-up in terms of guard and post play.

Junior Marcus Stewart shifted to shooting guard, a move precipitated by Jeramie Haney asking Evans to come off the bench, while Casey Ragan got the nod at point guard.

The move helped Stewart become more scoring minded, as he scored a season-high 25 points by being able to attack the basket more by taking defenders off the pass instead of the dribble.

"He just attacks the basket and that's why I like the ball in his hands at point, nobody can keep him out of there if he wants to go," Evans said. "(By) moving him to a wing, he can catch the ball and penetrate off the pass instead of dribbling it up and then trying to go.

"He can be a lot quicker and effective that way," Evans said. "He played well, attacked the basket well from the wing and may have found him a home out there."

The move also added Ragan to the line-up, where he contributed nine points in his first career start. Ragan's nine points included a string of seven consecutive points in the third quarter, turning a 36-32 lead into a 43-36 lead in a span of 90 seconds.

Sophomore guard William Carmichael also enjoyed the move of personnel along the backcourt, as he logged considerable playing time, scoring seven points and recording five assists.

Cocke County's Hunter Dockery was also a force in the paint, recording his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, as the Fighting Cocks had a considerable size advantage at the four and five positions.

"I challenged them to take over the boards, dominate and (that) good things will happen," Evans said. "Hunter stepped up and played well and Barry did too."

Despite the advantages and a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter, the Fighting Cocks endured a string of four consecutive turnovers as the Chiefs whittled the Cocke County lead to 51-47 in the matter of a minute.

Cocke County however, utilized an 8-1 run over the next three minutes, behind the strength of Stewart and Dockery to rebuild a cushion that the Chiefs would not threaten the remainder of the night.

Cocke County (71): Marcus Stewart 25, Hunter Dockery 13, Casey Ragan 9, Dustin Ball 8, William Carmichael 7, Josh Wice 6, Travis Glenn 2, Jeramie Haney 1.

Cherokee (60): Jeremy Luster 14, Matt Hale 13, Wes Horton 13, Logan Bailiff 6, Jon Eric Buck 6, Kaleb Trent 4, Josh Stewart 2, Brandon Laster 2.

CCHS: 26/53 FG (49.1%), 16/23 FT (69.5%), 2/6 3-PT FG (33.3%), 34 RBS, 20 TO.

CHS: 23/50 FG (46%), 10/13 FT (76.9%), 4/13 3-PT FG (30.7%), 24 RBS, 21 TO.

IMAC Standings: IMAC action was also underway at two other locations in the conference on Tuesday night.

In Morristown, the Lady Trojans defeated the Lady Hurricanes 65-42 and the Hurricanes came away with a 63-50 win in the boys game. In Greeneville, the Lady Devils won 58-43 over Jefferson County and the Devils won a 49-33 decision.

Tuesday's results leave the following standings in the girls league: Morristown West (2-0), Greeneville (2-0), Cocke County (2-1), Jefferson County (2-1), Morristown East (0-3) and Cherokee (0-3).

Boys standings are: Greeneville (3-0), Morristown East (3-0), Cocke County (2-1), Morristown West (1-2), Cherokee (1-2) and Jefferson County (0-3).

Up Next: Cocke County returns to action on Thursday in the third game of a four game homestand as they host Gatlinburg-Pittman. Varsity action tips off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday's promotion is Buddy's BBQ Night and all fans will receive free barbeque at the game.
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©2009 NPT PHOTO BY RUSSELL LAWS

Cocke County's Marcus Stewart drives for two of his game-high 26 points in the Big Red's two-point loss to Grainger Tuesday night.

NEWPORT-No problems for the Lady Red, but, no whistle and just short on the boy's side as Cocke County came away with a split in out-of-District action against Grainger at CCHS Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Lady Red (17-4) handled the Lady Grizzlies (5-11) with ease the first time they met on Dec. 2. And, despite the Lady Grizzlies winning three of their last four, the Lady Red handled them again 59-35.

The Big Red (11-4), on the other hand, were looking for some revenge after falling to the Grizzlies (15-3) by a mere four points in their first meeting. But, they didn't get it as a final second drive by Marcus Stewart came up empty in a 61-59 loss.

LADY RED BALANCED

On any given night, any one of the Lady Red can step up. On Tuesday night against Grainger, it was Courtney Lewis' turn. The senior finished with a team-high 11 points to go along with three assists and six rebounds in leading a balanced Lady Red attack.

"I was happy to see that," said Lady Red head coach Wade Wester. "I was happy to see that we made each other better tonight, looking for each other and making our assist total go up. I wanted to see a team and not a bunch of individuals, and I saw that tonight."

The Grizzlies got off to a 4-2 start, but the lady Red full court man-to-man defense began to work, racking up early turnovers. In the first half alone, the Lady Red forced 14 turnovers. Eight of those turnovers were steals, led by Shannon Depew's four. While the defense was working its' magic, the Lady Red offense started coming alive, boosted by a Lewis three-pointer to give the Lady Red an 8-6 lead. Lewis went on to score four more points to give the Lady red a 12-6 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

Allie Sprouse got the Lady Red on the board first to start the second frame on a free throw. Alex Suggs then found Jalese Pruitt for a basket to push the lady red lead to nine, 15-6. Morgan Buda followed with back-to-back buckets to up the Lady Red lead to 19-6 while holding the Lady Grizzlies scoreless over the first two-and-a-half minutes. The Lady Red were also working the offensive boards as Depew and Suggs each scored on put-backs, two for Depew and one for Suggs, to make it 25-8. The Lady Grizzlies tried to answer back on baskets by Ashlee Acuff and Katie Crews, but Depew responded with a basket, then hit an open Pruitt for two more by make it 29-12. Acuff drained a three to give the Lady Grizzlies some hope. But, Lewis followed with her second three-pointer to make it 32-15. After a Pruitt free throw, Depew got the final score of the quarter off a dish by Lewis to make it 35-17 at the break. Depew would finish with 8 points, 10 rebounds and five steals, while Pruitt finished with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

The Lady Red defense was even stingier coming out of the locker room, holding the Lady Grizzlies to just seven third-quarter points. The Lady Red, on the other hand, were spreading the wealth as Sprouse got four points, Nicole Ball knocked down a three, and Pruitt added three more to make it 51-24 heading into the final eight minutes.

With a 27-point lead, coach Wester was able to give his bench some playing time. Kendra Walker got four points while Ashley Clevenger and Jordan kohnke added a basket each to make it 59-35 at the buzzer.

"We were coming off a loss to Morristown West," said coach Wester. "It was a hard loss because it meant so much to the team. But, we came out to play tonight. I was worried that we wouldn't come out with intensity, but I felt like we had plenty of intensity tonight, and I was happy to see it."

But, it wasn't long after the final buzzer had sounded that thoughts turned to the Lady Red's next opponent.

"We have a big game Friday night at Morristown East," said coach Wester. "We have some girls that have never won there. It's an important game. We're second in the conference and 11th in the state. We're going to have to have some good hard practices leading up to the game. We'll need support from our fans, so we're taking a pep bus. It will be the most important game so far for us."

Cocke County scoring (59): Courtney Lewis 11, Jalese Pruitt 9, Shannon Depew 8, Morgan Buda 6, Allie Sprouse 6, Kendra Walker 5, Alex Suggs 4, Nicole Ball 3, Jayla Lane 3, Ashley Clevenger 2, Jordan Kohnke 2.

Grainger scoring (35): Ashlee Acuff 14, Katie Crews 6, Alayla Wardrou 4, Heather Roach 4, Taylor Lamb 3, Mara Maples 2, Mia Spaw 2.

BIG RED GROAN

In their first get-together on Dec. 2, Skylar McBee literally carried the Grizzlies to victory, scoring a game-high 22 points. The Big Red did a good job on the senior scoring machine on Tuesday night in Newport, holding him to just 11 points. But, Justin Humphrey took up the slack, knocking down 24 points to leave the Big Red scratching their heads. For Big Red head coach Ray Evans, however, the loss was attributed, in part, to an on-going problem.

"We got off to a slow start," said coach Evans. "We've got to get off to better starts. We're simply not getting into the game soon enough.

Casey Ragan and Travis Glenn each knocked down three-pointers to get things going for the Fighting Cocks, but the offense then disappeared for nearly half of the quarter. The Grizzlies took advantage of the Big Red's scoring drought, and went on an 8-0 run. It was 13-5 Grizzlies before Marcus Stewart ended the drought with a basket and an assist to Casey Ragan, who dropped his second three-pointer of the quarter to pull the Fighting Cocks to within three, 13-10. But, Grainger's Andy Farmer sank two baskets from behind the arc to make it 19-10 before Stewart finished out the quarter with two more of his game-high 26 points.

Grainger scored the first four points of the second frame, including a three-pointer by McBee to push their lead to 11, 23-12. With the Grizzlies up 29-15, the Fighting Cocks came alive. A free throw by Chris James, a Hunter Dockery lay-up off an assist by Ragan, and three buckets by Stewart, including one of his four three-pointers on the night, gave the Fighting Cocks back plenty of life, and the Grainger lead was 10, 35-25, at the break.

The Grizzlies tried to put the Big Red away at the start of the third quarter on baskets by Justin Humphrey and Aaron Carter. But the Fighting Cocks began to claw their way back, once again. Ragan got things started with a full court drive for two, followed by two Travis Glenn free throws off a Grainger technical foul. Stewart hit back-to-back three-pointers to get the Fighting Cocks to within six, 46-40. And, James got a put-back at the buzzer to make it 46-42 Grainger heading into the final eight minutes.

James cut the lead to two at the start of the fourth quarter off a pass by Luke Ottinger. With the Grizzlies trying to hang on, William Carmichael got a steal and lay-in to make it 53-50 Grainger with 3:25 remaining. The game remained nip-and-tuck as Stewart swished another three to make it a two-point game, 55-53 with 2:20 to play. And then the Fighting Cocks evened the score at 55-55 thanks to a steal and lay-up by Ottinger. Free throws dominated the final two minutes with Grainger hitting four and the Fighting Cocks two to make it 59-57 Grainger with 14 seconds remaining. Ottinger drove the lane and was fouled. And, with 6.8 seconds left, he drained both free throws to tie the score at 59-59. The Big Red were then whistled for a foul on McBee, who sank both free throws to give the Grizzlies the lead, 61-59, with 5.3 seconds. Following a Cocke County time-out, Stewart drove the lane. After being bumped by three Grainger defenders, his final shot missed, and with no foul called on the play, the Grizzlies got the victory.

"I felt like there should have been a call on that one," said coach Evans. "He (Stewart) was hit by at least two guys and turned around. I guess they decided not to make the call since time was running out. But, we shouldn't have been in that position. If we had played better in the first half, we wouldn't have been in that position. I'm really proud of the way the guys fought back tonight, but we really have to get off to better starts."

Cocke County scoring (59): Marcus Stewart 26, Luke Ottinger 9, Casey Ragan 8, Chris James 5, Travis Glenn 4, Hunter Dockery 4, William Carmichael 2, Josh Wice 1.

Grainger scoring (61): Justin Humphrey 24, Skylar McBee 11, Andy Farmer 11, Aaron Carter 11, Kanner Brabson 4.

BOY'S JV

The Fighting Cocks junior squad took an 11-point first quarter lead, and never looked back, leading 36-24 at the break, 61-37 after three, cruising home with the 28-point victory, 78-50.

Cocke County scoring (78): William Carmichael 16, Seth Wyatt 16, Chase Atkins 14, Logan Suggs 8, Jared McGaha 7, Holden Collett 6, Jake Green 6, Heath Ford 2, Kurt Brooks 2, Roger Helton 1.

Grainger scoring (50): Dylan Evans 12, Deshaun Walker 9, Seth Clark 8, Hunter Spaw 6, Levin King 5, Daniel Wolfe 4, Michael Herick 4, Nick Clint 2.

UP NEXT: Every Inter Mountain Athletic Conference game is huge, and this Friday will be no different.

Cocke County travels to Morristown to take on the East High Hurricanes at Isenberg-Siler Gymnasium. The Lady Red and the Lady Canes (8-10, 1-5) will do battle at 6:30 p.m. The Lady Red defeated the Lady Canes 65-45 in their first meeting in Newport on Dec. 12.

The Fighting Cocks will try to avenge a 66-63 loss to the Canes on Dec. 12 in Newport, but the task will be difficult. The Canes (14-5, 6-0) have won five straight, and are alone and undefeated atop the IMAC standings. Tip for this big match-up is slated for around 8 p.m.
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