Patriots Closeout Tennessee High, 58-44
Jefferson County Patriots vs. Tennessee High Vikings
Staff Photo by Mike Stanley, Jefferson County Post Sports
It was a story of two halves on Tuesday night, in a ball game that was closer than the score may indicate. The first half saw two teams that struggled on the offensive end, turning the ball over, and missing open shots. The second half however, saw two teams that played aggressive defense and scored in bunches.
In the first quarter of play the defensive intensity was there for both teams, the offensive intensity was there as well. The offensive production was not however, but the Patriots would lead after one quarter of play, 4-2. The second quarter saw a little better offensive production, the lead would change as Tennessee High would take a 17-15 lead into intermission. The Patriots would come out in the third quarter and score more than they did the entire first half. Jefferson County lead after three, 32-26. An early fourth quarter three pointer by Tennessee High would tie the score at 34-34, Jefferson County would go on a 24-10 run to close the game. The Patriots would outscore the Vikings 26-18 in the fourth quarter, with 16 of those points coming from the free throw line for the Patriots. Jefferson County would go 16 of 22 from the charity stripe to closeout a feisty Viking team, 58-44.
With seven seconds left, and the game clearly in hand, Jefferson County would call a timeout, not to discuss game plan or strategy, but to acknowledge that senior Brice Cusick had scored his 1,000 point in Jefferson County career. “It was emotional, it brought me to tears out there. I didn’t even know, people were asking me before the game, and I told them I was within 100.” Cusick said. “It surprised the heck out of me”
Asked Coach Poore, what it meant for these seniors to become the second team ever in Jefferson County history to reach sub-state. “Their a bunch of competitors, they set that bar, golly they set it high. They had some goals they wanted to achieve, some things they wanted to do, that haven’t been done.” He went on to add “I’m proud of these guys for being there, especially when your looking ahead when your early in the season, you always have those dreams, certainly proud of these guys.” Also asked about senior Brice Cusick scoring his 1,000 point, “Brice had a super year, I’m so proud of him. For him to come out here and get his 1,000th point, especially in a game like this, it’s really special.
With the win the Patriots become just the second team in school history to reach the regional final game. They will host Dobyns-Bennett on Thursday night at 7pm. Dobyns-Bennett comes into the game on a 15 game win streak. For Jefferson County it is their first trip back since the 1987-1988 season.
The 29-4 Patriot were lead in scoring by John Bryant with 17 points. Noah Carter scored 15 points, while senior Brice Cusick would add 14. Kyle Briggs had 7, while Malik Styles and Danny Bates would score 3 and 2 respectively.
