Beckham McKendrick has been on a roll lately and so have the Sequatchie County Indians.
The sharp-shooting junior scored 18 points in a win over Van Buren County Monday night after scoring 25 against Marion County on Friday.
He then scored a season-high 27 at Sale Creek’s McEwen Gym/Don Burton Court Tuesday night as the Indians won their fifth straight game and improved to 9-7 with the 47-35 non-district win.
Sale Creek has been on a roll lately as well with wins in seven of their last nine games, but they simply didn’t have an answer for McKendrick, who scored 19 of his team’s 23 points in the first half.
Sequatchie County coach Bryn Hobbs was just happy that something finally started working in his team’s favor.
“I thought we started off a little bit slow tonight, but were able to find more energy in the second half,” Hobbs said following a post-game talk with his team.
“I thought we did a good job of controlling the tempo and we created a few turnovers that helped, but I felt like we got the shots we wanted and we rebounded well, so it all went pretty well from my point of view,” he added with a smile.
The Panthers were playing without leading scorer Bennett Wilson, who is recovering from a sprained ankle. With him on the bench, Sale Creek had a tough time breaking through Sequatchie’s tough zone defense.
Coach Daniel Moore was still happy with the way his team played, despite coming out on the short end of the final score.
“Sequatchie County played well as they had a good game plan and stuck to it, so you have to give those guys credit for a job well done,” Moore began.
“We start our district play on Friday and could have played Bennett tonight, but there was no reason to chance him making it worse. This was a good opportunity for us to learn how to overcome a little adversity.
“It was a much slower-paced game than we would have liked, but they focused on Jackson Moore and we had a tough time putting points on the board. I thought that we got more than our share of good shots, but they just weren’t falling tonight,” he added.
Khari Escobar opened the game with a layup for the Panthers as Sale Creek built a 6-2 lead in the first three minutes. Sequatchie responded with eight straight points, including four from Ryker Terry and McKendrick, for a 10-6 lead with 1:43 left in the opening stanza.
Dallas Billingsley and Evan Higgins both added buckets in the last minute as Sale Creek knotted the score at 10-10 when the first quarter ended.
McKendrick sank a 3 from the key to start the second period and he converted a three-point play less than a minute later as the Indians scored eight of the first nine points for an 18-11 lead following two free throws by McKendrick with 4:50 left before halftime.
Escobar sank four straight free throws in the final minute to get the Panthers within a point at 21-20 before two free throws from McKendrick allowed the Indians to take a 23-20 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
Moore nailed a 3 from the corner with 5:52 left in the third to knot the score at 25-25 and then another about three minutes later to put the Panthers up 28-25 with 3:03 left in the third.
Sequatchie County then scored the last 10 points of the quarter for a 35-28 lead with eight minutes to play. By the time Sale Creek scored again on a layup from Billingsley with 2:24 to play, the difference was 41-30 and the outcome already determined.
While McKendrick scorched the nets for 27 points, Terry followed with a dozen. Billingsley was the only Sale Creek player in double figures as he finished with 11.
The Indians also had an unofficial 29-26 advantage in rebounds as Terry grabbed nine and McKendrick seven. Jackson Freeman was tops for the Panthers with eight while Billingsley and Escobar followed with six and five, respectively.
Sale Creek will travel to Copper Hill on Friday to face Copper Basin in its first district game while Sequatchie County will do the same with a home game against Bledsoe County.
SALE CREEK GIRLS 46, SEQUATCHIE CO. 35: The score was tied at 18-each when the halftime horn sounded, but the Lady Panthers took control with a five-point advantage in the third quarter before winning and improving to 12-4 for the season.
Gracie Arnold scored 14 points and teammate Trinity Smith 13 to lead the Lady Panthers. Sequatchie County was led by Curtlyn Lee, who finished with 23 points after scoring 16 in the first half.
GIRLS SUMMARY
SEQUATCHIE COUNTY 8 10 7 10 -- 35
SALE CREEK 11 7 12 16 -- 46
SEQUATCHIE CO. (35) – Green 2, Curtlyn Lee 23, Stockwell, J. Kelly, G. Kelly, Rankin 3, Ross, Seals 6.
SALE CREEK (46) – Williams, Ellis 7, Holland 1, Garner 6, Gracie Arnold 14, Trinity Smith 13, Levi 5, Escobar, Harr.
3-Point Goals: Sequatchie County 3 (Seals 2, Rankin); Sale Creek none.
BOYS SUMMARY
SEQUATCHIE COUNTY 10 13 12 12 -- 47
SALE CREEK 10 10 8 7 -- 35
SEQUATCHIE CO. (47) – Davis, Haman, Minton, Ryker Terry 12, Beckham McKendrick 27, Kelly 6, Cribbs, Evitts 2, Becerra, Smith.
SALE CREEK (35) – LaRose, Escobar 7, Moore 6, Higgins 5, Freeman 6, Smith, Mooneyham, Dallas Billingsley 11.
3-Point Goals: Sequatchie Co. 3 (McKendrick 3); Sale Creek 3 (Moore 2, Higgins).
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)