Late comeback not enough for Lady Canes in loss to Cocke County

East fought back to tie the game at 28-28 early in the third quarter before the Lady Red reeled off a 15-2 spurt to regain control. The Lady Hurricanes fell to 9-10 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

Sydney Clevenger pumped in 18 points to lead Cocke County while Camryn Halcomb added 13. Gracie Gregg had eight and Heaven Baxter seven.

The Lady ‘Canes got 15 points apiece from Sable Burnside and Devasia Kyle.

Cocke County coach Jeremy Byrd said, “It was a good win for us. We played well in spurts and got out to a big lead a couple of times.

“But, every time we did that East would battle back and get the score back close,” he added. “But it seemed that we had someone step up and hit a big shot each time they did that and that was very important.”

Byrd went on to say, “Give East credit, they play hard no matter what the score is and battled us like crazy. But I was proud of the way my girls responded when they got close each time.

“I think we’re improving even though our record isn’t very impressive to look at. But we’ve played some good teams, especially in the holiday tournament and doing that helps you get better.”

The coach closed, “We’re young and the girls are working hard to make themselves a better basketball team.”

East’s Michael Potts remarked, “We had our chances but every time we got back into the game we’d turn the ball over or miss an open shot or something and they would pull away again.

“We’ve got to cut down on the turnovers, especially the unforced ones, if we expect to win basketball games.”

The winners shot 44.7 percent from the floor by hitting 21-of-47. They were 6-of-15 on three-point attempts. East connected on 19-of-41 for 46.4 percent including 4-of-11 behind the arc. Baxter grabbed seven rebounds to propel the Lady Red to a 29-27 backboard advantage. Burnside had seven and Finley Surber six for the Lady ‘Canes.

East jumped out to a 7-3 lead as Kyle hit a three and Kierstin Bell and Surber added baskets. Gregg then gunned through a triple and added a layup as the Lady Red went in front.

Lindsey Winstead’s basket tied it for East, but the winners scored the final nine points of the opening stanza to lead 18-9.

The lead went to 20-9 before East scored seven straight. However, Clevenger scored five in-a-row, and the visitors led by nine again. The Lady ‘Canes got five points from Kyle and a basket from Surber to close within 28-26 at the half.

Burnside tied the game just over two minutes into the third quarter before Clevenger hit two buckets and a free throw and Halcomb added a basket to put the Lady Red in front 35-28. Kyle made two free throws for East, but Baxter converted a three-point play, Jaylen Cofield hit a jumper and Halcomb scored and it was 43-30.

Cocke County led 45-34 after three quarters, but Bell knocked down a trey and Burnside hit two straight baskets to get the Lady ‘Canes back in it,

East got the margin down to three with 2:52 left and again at 1:56 when Surber scored the final points for the Lady Hurricanes to make it 50-47. Halcomb’s three with 1:27 on the clock provided some cushion, and Clevenger cashed in two free throws in the final seconds.