©2009 NPT PHOTO BY SETH BUTLER

Lady Red senior point guard Morgan Buda drives to the hoop
in a 57-55 overtime loss to Dobyns-Bennett on Tuesday night.
Buda scored a game-high 16 points in the loss.

KNOXVILLE-The first tests for the Cocke County High School basketball teams resulted in learning experiences for both squads at the HoopsFeast Tournament at Knox Central High School on Tuesday night.

The Lady Red received the biggest learning experience of the night with a 57-55 setback in overtime to District 1-AAA power Dobyns-Bennett. Cocke County let a late lead slip away in the final seconds of regulation to send the game to the extra period.

In the earlier game, the Fighting Cocks lost an 85-66 decision to an athletic Knox Central squad.

Cocke County's Lady Red however was stinging the most after their overtime loss on Tuesday, having lost a late two-point lead in the game's final 20 seconds. Dobyns-Bennett (1-0) was able to take advantage of a late offensive rebound after a missed three-point shot to tie the game and send it to overtime where the Lady Indians controlled the final four minutes.

Second-year Cocke County coach Wade Wester said he hoped his team used the loss to learn and better themselves for a pair of tough games next week.

"Sometimes you can learn more,  especially in basketball,  to lose in an early season tournament like this," Wester said "I'd rather lose right now and be ready for Seymour and South Greene next week as to win this tournament and go into those games on cloud nine.

"The girls are disappointed and that is great," Wester said. "Now we have to regroup and come in and work and not let it happen again. I want these girls to be mad, but I really believe that this team will grow up, especially after this loss."

Cocke County (2-1) struggled in all phases of the offensive game, shooting only 29 percent from the field and missing numerous short-range looks at the basket. The team also struggled from long range, going four-of-16 for the game.

The Lady Red were led in scoring by point guard Morgan Buda with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, but Buda fouled out with 14.6 seconds to play in regulation.

"Our point guard has to stay on the floor," Wester said. "She has to be mentally smarter on defense, and offensively our post players have to step up.

"It just seems right now, we are making the game harder than it is."

Despite the struggles, Cocke County was constantly in the game, with a strong defensive effort which forced 28 turnovers to 15 of their own, and never trailed by more than six points. However they never held a lead more than that same margin.

CCHS held a 41-36 edge early in the fourth quarter, but saw the Lady Indians go 17-of-25 from the free-throw line in the second half to obtain the scoring advantage. Dobyns-Bennett scored 17 of their 30 second half points from the line, where the team visited 13 more times than their opponents and resulted in 13 more made free-throws than Cocke County.

Wester said that the team would take the loss and get back to work with the final two games of the tournament this weekend to prepare for next week's tough stretch, which includes the District 2-AAA opener at Seymour on Tuesday.

"We know where we stand," Wester said. "We know we're not good right now and we're missing shots and not disciplined and not doing the right things, but I know how good we can be.

"We're going to be good and it is my job to get them to that level," Wester said. "And our seniors have to step up and say we're not going to let this happen again."

COCKE COUNTY (55): Morgan Buda 5-13 5-7 16; Shannon Depew 5-16 2-2 13; Jayla Lane 2-10 1-2 7; Jalese Pruitt 2-9 2-6 6; Allie Sprouse 2-6 1-2 5; Kendra Walker 1-7 2-6 4; Cidney Ball 1-2 0-0 2; Samantha Ray 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-65 13-25 55.

DOBYNS-BENNETT (57): Juli Osborne 1-6 12-17 14; Megan Devine 3-8 7-9 13; Makenzie Lilly 3-9 0-0 8; Briasha Russell 2-6 3-6 8; Hillary Gray 3-3 0-0 6; Cayley McCaslin 0-1 4-6 4; Haley Clark 2-5 0-0 4; Avery Blair 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 26-38 57.

3-point goals--Cocke County 4-16 (Jayla Lane 2-7; Shannon Depew 1-3; Morgan Buda 1-3; Kendra Walker 0-2; Jalese Pruitt 0-1), Dobyns-Bennett 3-12 (Makenzie Lilly 2-5; Briasha Russell 1-3; Haley Clark 0-3; Megan Devine 0-1). Fouled out--Cocke County-Morgan Buda; Kendra Walker,

Dobyns-Bennett-Hillary Gray. Rebounds--Cocke County 34 (Allie Sprouse 10; Shannon Depew 10; Jalese Pruitt 10), Dobyns-Bennett 31 (Megan Devine 8). Assists--Cocke County 8 (Morgan Buda 4. Total fouls--Cocke County 28, Dobyns-Bennett 17.

 

Limited depth tires Cocke County

Up against one of the more athletic teams on their schedule this season, the Fighting Cocks picked a wrong night to be limited in personnel options.

The Knox Central Bobcats (1-0) used their speed and athleticism to put the Fighting (2-1) Cocks, down to a seven-man rotation, looking to catch their breath and allowed them to be victorious in the game.

Knox Central made a pair of runs late in each half to earn an 85-66 win. Before the first half run, the Fighting Cocks trialed by only 10 before going into halftime with a 44-25 deficit.

"I thought we got tired a little bit, especially at the end of the second quarter and the fourth quarter," Evans said. "We were shorthanded with two guys out and basically playing with a seven-man rotation."

CCHS was absent Kurt Brooks, who is expected to play on Friday, after tweaking an often-injured knee on Saturday night. Junior Jared McGaha is expected to miss up to four more weeks with a broken collarbone sustained in the ninth week of the 2009 football season.

The pair of Knox Central runs were tied to a string of Cocke County turnovers, giving the Bobcats easy transition baskets. Cocke County turned the ball over 25 times in the game, with 15 of those turnovers coming from their three starting guards.

"Our legs got tired, and when you get tired, it is hard to stay focused mentally," Evans said. "We were just making some bad passes, but give them credit, they stayed on us and made us tired."

The turnovers and easy baskets allowed the Bobcats to go 30-of-39 from inside three-point range, getting numerous good looks at the basket from close-range.

"They shot the ball a lot better than Central teams of t he past I'm used to seeing," Evans said. "They're going to be hard to beat regardless of who they're playing.

"A lot of their close-range shots were when we went through the spells of turnovers and got a bunch of easy layups," Evans said.

Cocke County however kept the fight to Knox Central, battling back to within 10 points on two occasions in the second half with a run that spanned into the early portion of the fourth quarter.

"I'm proud of them for (not quitting)," Evans said. "They never quit. You'll never see this team quit."

Reserve post player Chase Atkins was the big weapon in the second half for Cocke County, scoring a team-high 20 points and finishing one rebound shy of a double-double.

COCKE COUNTY (66): Chase Atkins 8-14 4-7 20; Marcus Stewart 5-12 3-4 14; Heath Ford 4-9 2-2 11; Krys Cates 2-12 0-0 6; Logan Suggs 2-6 2-2 6; Casey Ragan 2-5 1-1 6; Jeramie Haney 1-4 1-2 3; Roger Helton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 13-18 66.

KNOX CENTRAL (85): Dre Matheau 9-14 5-7 23; Linwood Holloway 8-15 3-3 21; Zeer Holden 6-12 0-1 13; Brett Wade 4-8 0-0 10; Julian McBee 5-11 0-0 10; Sablen Smith 1-3 2-2 4; Darrell Williams 1-3 0-0 2; Matthew McBee 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 35-67 10-13 85.

3-point goals--Cocke County 5-18 (Krys Cates 2-8; Marcus Stewart 1-3; Heath Ford 1-3; Casey Ragan 1-2; Roger Helton 0-1; Logan Suggs 0-1), Knox Central 5-16 (Linwood Holloway 2-4; Brett Wade 2-5; Zeer Holden 1-5; Sablen Smith 0-2). Rebounds-Cocke County 38 (Chase Atkins 9), Knox Central 23 (Julian McBee 8). Assists-Cocke County 6 (Casey Ragan 3; Heath Ford 3). Total fouls--Cocke County 12, Knox Central 17.

Up Next: Cocke County returns to action in the HoopsFeast Tournament on Friday. The Lady Red face off with a to be determined opponent at 9 a.m. and the Fighting Cocks will play a to be determined opponent at 7:30 p.m. Online coverage of the event is accessible at Knoxivi.com/centralhs.