©2009 NPT PHOTO BY PAUL MEADOR

Cosby freshman Lexi Lowery had a game-high 15 points
in the Lady Eagles' 60-27 win over Grace Christian at the
Grace Christian Academy Invitational semifinals on Friday night.

By PAUL MEADOR

NPT Sports Editor

 

KNOXVILLE-The good news is that the Cosby Lady Eagles(51) are through to the championship game at the Grace Christian AcademyInvitational in Knoxville. The bad news is that the Cosby Eagles came up alittle short, and will vie for third place honors at the tournament.

The Lady Eagles, after opening the tournament Thursdayafternoon with a resounding 56-19 victory over Maryville Christian (theirsecond victory over MC this season, 60-28 on Nov. 24), the Lady Eagles went upagainst former District 3A foe Grace Christian on Friday afternoon, and demolishedthe Lady Rams 60-27. The victory in Friday's semifinal sent the Lady Eaglesinto the Tournament's championship tilt that was scheduled for Saturday nightafter press time. We'll have the story for you in Tuesday's Plain Talk Sports.

Meanwhile, the Eagles (4-2) started the tournament with abang, rolling past Grace Chapel, North Carolina 60-20. In their semifinalFriday night against Scott County, the Eagles were battling with theHighlanders toe-to-toe through the first three quarters, but the Highlandersblitzed the Eagles for 24 points over the last eight minutes for the 52-34victory.

 

LADY EAGLES ROMP

The Lady Eagles literally destroyed their first twoopponents of the Grace Christian Academy Invitational, using their tenaciousdefense, and balanced offensive attack. In their opener on Thursday afternoon,a 37-point victory over Maryville Christian, holding their opponent to nine fewerpoints that when the same two teams first met in the Lady Eagles second game ofthe season. The Lady Eagles' defense and offense were still working on Fridayafternoon as well, this time a 33-point victory over Grace Christian on theLady Rams home court.

The Lady Rams were having difficulty on both ends of thecourt, first trying to work their way through the Lady Eagles' swarmingdefense, and second trying to keep up with the Lady Eagles' speed andquickness. It wasn't working as the Lady Eagles went to the free throw line sixtimes in the first quarter alone. Maddie Hall's hot shooting got the LadyEagles jump-started. Hall nailed a three pointer, sank two two-point bucketsand went two-for-two from the free throw line for nine first-quarter points.Freshman Lexi Lowery chipped in with five points, a basket and three freethrows, while junior Brooklyn Stuart got a deuce and the Lady Eagles were offand running with a 16-3 first quarter lead.

The Lady Eagles continued to make frequent trips to thecharity stripe in the second period, and made the Lady Rams pay by goingeight-for-eight, four from Lowery, two from Hall and two from Taylor Valentine.Valentine and Lowery each added baskets while Stuart and freshman TiffanySmelcer each had baskets, and the Lady Eagles were up by 18, 32-14, at thebreak.

The Lady Eagles continued their torrid pace through thethird frame, but this time it was Brittany Frisbee's turn. The senior post washaving her way in the paint, and scored 12 of her 14 points, which includedfive two-pointers and two free throws. Stuart added a big three-pointer andLowery added another basket as the Lady Eagles were on cruise control, 49-21,heading into the final eight minutes.

Five players scored in the final stanza to ice it for theLady Eagles. Stuart buried her final basket while Frisbee and Lowery got oneeach, Ally Hooper came off the bench to punch in a deuce and a free throw andSmelcer went two-for-two from the charity stripe to give the Lady Eagles the33-point victory, and a spot in Saturday night's championship tilt against CAK.

In the end, 18 of the Lady Eagles 60 points came from thefree throw line where they were 18-21 (85.7%). The Lady Rams went to the freethrow line 14 times, and were successful on six of them.

The Lady Eagles had three players in double figures,including Lowery, who finished with a game-high 15 points, Frisbee, who had 14,and Hall, who ended up with 11, all in the first half.

Alysha Dioney had six points to lead the Lady Rams.

COSBY (60): Lexi Lowery 15, Brittany Frisbee 14, MaddieHall 11, Brooklyn Stuart 9, Tiffany Smelcer 4, Taylor Valentine 4, Ally Hooper3.

GRACE CHRISTIAN (27): Alysha Dioney 6, Keri Powell 5,Morgan Fox 4, Kennedy Wade 4, Haley Hill 3, Felicia Christian 2, Morgan Crawley2, Kaitlin Winegardner 1.

 

EAGLES STUMBLE

The Eagles were solid in the tournament opener againstGrace Chapel, North Carolina on Thursday night. Their defense was stout,holding Grace to just 20 points total, and their offense was flowing, withCorey Conard (15), Jake Ledford (12) and Seth Wyatt (10) leading the way. ZachWebb chipped in 9 while Andrew Adams had eight from the point, Robert Herzoghad four and Brandon Gates added two in a balanced Eagle attack.

Friday night, however, the Eagles ran into Scott County,and both teams were evenly matched. The Eagles had opportunities in this one,but problems on defense over the final eight minutes proved to be theirundoing.

Both teams battled to a scoreless draw, 11-11, to finishout the first quarter. The Eagles were hot beyond the arc, with Ledford buryingtwo long-range jumpers and senior Jake Green nailing one outside the circle.Wyatt accounted for the remaining two points with a basket in the paint.

The Eagles got another three-pointer, this time fromWebb, in the second quarter, along with two-point buckets from Herzog andWyatt. But, the Highlanders managed to gain the lead, going five-of-seven fromthe free throw line, in addition to a three-pointer and two baskets from JacobSexton, who would finish with a game-high 17 points. As a result, theHighlanders took a five-point advantage, 23-18, into the break.

Both teams stepped up the defensive pressure out of thelocker rooms, with the Eagles outscoring the Highlanders 6-5 over the thirdeight-minute stretch. The Eagles got two-point baskets from Adams, Conard andWyatt to cut the Highlander lead to four, 28-24, heading into the final stanza.

Despite two more three-pointers, this time from seniorNick Baxter and freshman Tanner Phillips, and baskets by Adams and Gates, theirdefense went south, and the Highlanders made them pay with 24 fourth-quarterpoints to sneak away with an 18-point victory.

Ten Eagles contributed points on the night, led by Ledfordand Wyatt, who each finished with six points. The Eagles six three-pointers onthe night was their highest output from beyond the arc this season.

COSBY (34): Jake Ledford 6, Seth Wyatt 6, Andrew Adams 4,Jake Green 3, Nick Baxter 3, Zach Webb 3, Tanner Phillips 3, Robert Herzog 2,Brandon Gates 2, Corey Conard 2.

SCOTT COUNTY (52): Jacob sexton 17, Tyler King 10, NathanGriffith 9, Isaac Blakley 8, Wes Slaven 2, Brandon Crabtree 2, Eric Blakley 2,Daniel Goad 2.

 

UP NEXT

The Lady Eagles are in the tournament championship gamewhile the Eagles will play for third place, both Saturday afternoon andevening, after press time. We'll have details from both games in Tuesday'sPlain Talk Sports.

Both the Eagles and Lady Eagles will seetheir first District 2A action this Thursday and Friday, December 17-18. OnThursday, Clinch will visit the Eagles' Nest, which will also include a boy'sjunior varsity contest that starts at 5 p.m., followed by girl's varsity at6:30 p.m. and boy's varsity at around 8 p.m. On Friday, they'll load up thebusses for a trip over Clinch Mountain to battle District 2A archrival HancockCounty in Sneedville. Girl's junior varsity will tip things off at 5 p.m.,followed by girl's varsity at 6:30 p.m. and boy's varsity at around 8 p.m.