CLINCH-Both teams were coming off losses and needed a boost. Both the Cosby Eagles and Lady Eagles found it tough going Tuesday night in their home opener against Gatlinburg-Pittman. The Lady Eagles, especially, have had some tough times in their first three games of the season, and really needed a victory for some confidence.

It happened, as the Lady Eagles (1-3, 1-0) took care of business, and routed the Lady Wildcats (0-1, 0-1) 81-17. And, the Eagles (3-2, 1-0) followed suit, although in a closer fought contest, holding off the stubborn Wildcats (0-1, 0-1) 56-43.

LADY EAGLES SOAR

The Lady Eagles have been looking to gel as a team, and much to the delight of head coach Richard Coggins, they did just that Friday night at Clinch.

The Lady Eagles clicked on all cylinders, and on both ends of the court, as Coach Coggins was able to clear his bench early.

The Lady Eagles were off and running from the opening tip, and took a 22-5 first quarter lead. During the first eight-minute stretch, the Lady Eagles got five steals on defense, and the Lady Wildcats were having problems keeping up with the Lady Eagles' speed. That led to numerous Lady Wildcat fouls. The Lady Eagles were shooting one-and-ones in the first quarter, and were already in the double bonus at the start of the second. Unfortunately, the Lady Eagles were unable to fully capitalize on their trips to the charity stripe, converting only 9-23 on the night.

The Lady Eagles kept up the pressure in the second frame, and continued to run, even though coach Coggins was substituting regularly by this time. A couple of more steals by freshman guard Alyssa McMahan, and the Lady Eagles went into the break with a 46-11 lead.

There was no let down coming out of the locker room as the Lady Eagles began with two three-point baskets by Brittany Frisbee and Whitney Hartsell, who finished with three. The Lady Eagles hot shooting continued, and they took the third quarter 19-6, and led 67-17 going into the final eight minutes.

The mercy rule took affect through the entire fourth quarter, so the clock was never stopped. The bench players were taking full advantage of playing time as Maddie Hall got four steals and the Lady Eagles took the quarter 14-0, and the 64-point victory, 81-17.

"We needed this win badly," said coach Coggins. "I think all we needed was a little confidence to get things going, and I think we got that tonight."

Cosby scoring (81): Whitney Hartsell 15, Jessi Daruna 12, Megan Tinker 8, Taylor Valentine 8, Brittany Frisbee 7, Tiffany Hartsell 6, Amy Hunt 6, Stevie Gorrell 6, Maddie Hall 4, Alyssa McMahan 3, Whitney Black 2, Preanna Davis 2, Kalsea Mantooth 2.

Clinch scoring (17): Holly Sauceman 8, Brittany Greene 5, Danielle Gillespie 3, Courtney Gosnell 1.

EAGLES FINISH STRONG

The Eagles could very easily be unbeaten on the season. In their two losses, they have lost leads in the second half, but have played every game close. They had to again on Friday night at Clinch, as the pesky Wildcats gave them a game. Only this time, the Eagles kept their poise, and their lead late.

The Eagles started the game with a defensive gem as Robert Herzog got a steal, and a lay up. But, the Wildcats came to play in front of their home folks, and went up 6-4 at the 4:50 mark. In the mean time, the Eagles suffered some foul troubles as starting seniors Jonathan Manning and Trenten Dunn were both whistled for two fouls each. Clinch took advantage, and took a 12-6 lead at the 1:56 mark. But, the Eagles turned it up a notch, and pulled to within two, 12-10, on a basket by senior Spencer Grooms at the end of the first quarter.

Chris Grooms began to dominate the paint for the Eagles in the second frame, scoring nine of his 13 first-half points to go along with five big rebounds and a blocked shot. As both teams headed to their locker rooms, the game was all even, 21-21.

In the third quarter, Cosby got the lead, 25-22, at the 5:10 mark on a Nick Baxter three-pointer. Baxter's three started an Eagle 9-0 run that included baskets by Chris and Spencer Grooms and a fast break bucket by Baxter to make it 31-24 at the 3:13 mark. The Wildcats managed to chip away at the Cosby lead late in the quarter, but Chris Grooms hit the last shot of the quarter to give the Eagles a 34-31 advantage heading into the final frame.

The Wildcats hit the first shot of the quarter to pull to within one. Herzog responded with a lay up for the Eagles, but the Wildcats' Ethan Murrell tied the game with a three-pointer. At this point, it was each team hitting their shots, but Cosby was hanging tough, and led 42-39 with 4:52 remaining. After a steal and a lay up by Manning and a free throw by Dunn, Cosby led 45-41 with 3:05 to go. And that's when the Eagles brought down the hammer. Chris Grooms hit back-to-back buckets and the Eagles went 6-8 from the charity stripe over the final three minutes to secure a 13-point victory to start District play.

"I really don't think we played well until the fourth quarter," said Eagle head coach Brad Flatford. "I think the difference was Chris (Grooms). He stepped it up and really played well for us."

Cosby scoring (56): Chris Grooms 26, Spencer Grooms 8, Nick Baxter 7, Jonathan Manning 6, Trenten Dunn 5, Robert Herzog 4.

Clinch scoring (43): Tobey Norris 17, Ethan Murrell 15, Cody Lamb 6, Matt Lamb 3, Cody Mullins 2.

JUNIOR VARSITY

The Cosby Eagles' Junior Varsity squad saw their first action of the season, and head coach Eric Coggins was pretty happy with the outcome, as the Eagles blitzed the Wildcats 54-7.

The Eagles took it to the Wildcats early and often, soaring out to a 10-0 first quarter lead and then 23-6 at the break. It was 40-10 after the third before the Eagles cruised home with the 47-point victory.

Jake Ledford led the Eagles attack with 16 points, while Dakota Sane added 14, Zach Webb 7, Marvin Green 6, Cody Ball 6, Brandon Gates 3 and Robbie Livingston 2.

UP NEXT

The Eagles and Lady Eagles not embark on perhaps the most grueling part of their schedule. The next three contests are all on the road, and will eat up some miles.

The first two, however, will be tough match-ups for both squads as they travel to Unaka on Tuesday, Dec. 9, for boy's and girl's varsity only, and finish up the week on Friday for a big District showdown at J. Frank White, on the campus of Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate. In addition to the boy's and girl's varsity games, the boy's JV squad will be in action at J. Frank white as well.

Tip off for the varsity games is 6:30 p.m. for the girls and around 8 p.m. for the boys.