Local teams won four out of five games on an action-packed Wednesday, with Christmas tournaments in full swing at Oneida High School, McCreary Central High School in Stearns, Ky. and Anderson County High School in Clinton.
The Indians saw their six-game winning streak snapped in a narrow loss to Pickett County in the nightcap, the semifinals of the South Fork Physical Therapy Christmas Classic, but all other local teams recorded relatively easy wins.
The day started with Oneida's Lady Indians romping to a 68-29 win over Cosby. The OHS girls played two games, by virtue of a late drop-out in the South Fork Physical Therapy tournament it was hosting. As a result, Oneida did not play a game on Tuesday, and played in both the winners' bracket and the losers' bracket on Wednesday.
Just about an hour after Oneida's game against Cosby ended, Scott High's Lady Highlanders began their final game at the Arby's/KFC Christmas Classic at McCreary Central High School in Kentucky, winning their second consecutive game with a 57-18 shellacking of Washington County (Ky.).
Highlander fans barely had time to make the drive from Stearns to Clinton, Tenn. before the Scott High men tipped off their second game at the Anderson County Christmas Tournament, defeating region opponent Gibbs by a 77-63 score.
Back at Oneida, the Lady Indians began their second game of the day just before the Highlanders' game ended in Clinton. OHS defeated Monterey by a 61-45 final to earn a spot in the SFPT Christmas Classic championship game on Thursday.
The last game of the day was a rematch between Oneida and Pickett County, a game the Bobcats had won narrowly on their home floor early in the month. Th second time around was much the same: an evenly-contested game that saw Pickett County emerge victorious, but just barely.
Oneida 68, Cosby 29
Wednesday was a game of big individual performances in most games, but that wasn't the case in the Lady Indians' game against Cosby. That's because Oneida went deep to its bench early in the game and stayed there, giving its starters little time to accumulate impressive stats.
The move to the bench early in the game was due to an overwhelming start by the Lady Indians. Oneida put up a whopping 35 points in the first quarter and led by a stunning 32 points by the end of the first eight minutes before OHS coach Marv West went to his bench and stayed there. The Lady Indian starters played less than one quarter.
Kelsey Pike finished with 10 points to lead Oneida, on a night when 13 different players would score. Lydia Kline was impressive off the bench, with eight points and a team-high six rebounds. Mahayla Martin and Larissa Jones also had six rebounds each.
Also scoring for Oneida: Elli West with 7, Makenna Terry with 6, Annaleah Terry with 6, Kamryn Stiltner with 5, Rachel Elmore with 5, Martin with 4, Ali Smith with 4, Raylie Bush with 4, Kennedy Shoemaker with 4, Braelyn Russ with 3, and Jones with 2.
Despite playing deep into its bench for most of the game, Oneida shot 51% from the field, including 54% from 3-point range. The Lady Indians had a 39-13 rebounding advantage and forced Cosby into 17 turnovers — mostly in the first quarter.
Scott 57, Washington Co. 18
The Lady Highlanders wrapped up play at the Arby's/KFC Christmas Classic with a lopsided win over Washington County. Holiday play in the Bluegrass was good to Scott High, which went 3-1 with wins over Wayne County and McCreary Central in addition to Washington County.
Brittany Morrow scored 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting and had four steals. Brianna Jeffers came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points.
As a team, the Lady Highlanders shot a season-high 48%.
It was a relatively close game for a few minutes, with the Lady Highlanders up 9-6 late in the first quarter. But Scott closed the opening period on a 10-0 run, and didn't let up in the second quarter, building the lead to 24 points by the intermission.
The third quarter was much the same, as Washington County had just three made field goals in the second half, then went 0 of 6 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Jake Wright was able to go to the end of his bench in the second half, playing his starters for only three minutes in the third quarter.
Also scoring for the Lady Highlanders were Annalyne Woodward with 7, Kaitlyn Butts with 7, Riley Price with 5, Gracie Lewis with 2, Zoey Terry with 2, Rachel Garrett with 2, Zoey Price with 2, Autumn Brummett with 2, Jalin Young with 1 and Kynlie Frogge with 1.
With the win, Scott High heads to the Christmas break having won four of its last six games. The 39-point margin of victory was the most for the Lady Highlanders since a 69-28 win over the Knox Ambassadors in December 2019, and the seven wins posted by SHS in November and December is the most pre-Christmas wins for the program since 2018, when they also won seven.
Scott 77, Gibbs 63
The Highlanders opened play in Anderson County on Tuesday by being pitted against a powerful William Blount squad that entered tournament play unbeaten. Scott led 23-20 after the first quarter and kept things even with the Governors through much of the second before hitting a skid just before the end of the first half. Things got really bad in the second half, and William Blount won going away.
Wednesday's game was a much better outing for the Highlanders, and it was important because it was a potential preview of a region tournament game in March.
The Highlanders never trailed against Gibbs, but was unable to put the game away until late, eventually winning 77-63. Scott built a seven-point lead in the first quarter, only to see the Eagles rally to close to within one. Then they build a double-digit lead in the second quarter, before Gibbs again rallied late in the first half. The third quarter saw Gibbs continue to claw its way back, but the Highlanders were able to keep their opponent at arm's length.
Finally, early in the fourth quarter, Gibbs was called for three consecutive technical fouls. Scott Jeffers knocked down five of the resulting six free throws, and the Highlanders got possession, essentially putting the game away at that point.
Grey Todd finished with 25 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to help ice the game. He had four 3-pointers.
Toby Garrett had a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds, scoring nine in the third quarter to help hold off a Gibbs rally.
Kayleb Woodward had a double-double, with 13 points and 12 rebounds, as he continued his improved play at the post position. He scored 12 of his points in the first half.
Also scoring for the Highlanders were Skye Babb with 8, Brady Strunk with 6 on his birthday, Jeffers with 5, and Isaiah Washam with 3.
The Highlanders will wrap up play at Anderson County by facing Providence Academy in the fifth place game at 1:45 p.m. Thursday.
Oneida 61, Monterey 45
Kelsey Pike had a double-double, with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Raylie Bush added 13 points, as the Lady Indians played their way into the championship game of the South Fork Physical Therapy Christmas Classic with a 61-45 win over Monterey.
In the championship game, to be played at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oneida will rematch a powerful Pickett County team. The Bobcats defeated the Lady Indians in Byrdstown earlier in the season.
Pike continued her Miss Basketball campaign against Monterey, putting up impressive numbers across the board. Bush, meanwhile, had six assists to accompany her 13-point total.
After a morning game that saw 13 different players score for Oneida, only eight players saw the floor against Monterey, but all of them scored. Oneida was an impressive 91% from the free throw line, and shot 44% from the field — including 41% from 3-point range.
The Lady Indians enjoyed a 32-21 advantage on the boards.
The two teams were tied after the first quarter, but the Lady Indians built a 10-point lead in the second quarter, and went on a 36-20 run across the second and third quarters as a whole to build a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter.
Also scoring for Oneida were Elli West with 9, Braelyn Russ with 8, Rachel Elmore with 3, Annaleah Terry with 2, Ali Smith with 2 and Grace Shoemaker with 2.
Pickett Co. 60, Oneida 58
The only blemish for local teams on Wednesday was Pickett County's come-from-behind win over Oneida in the semifinals of the South Fork Physical Therapy Christmas Classic. The Bobcats pulled out a narrow 60-58 win to snap Oneida's six-game winning streak.
Oneida nearly matched Pickett County's comeback with one of its own on a night when three players finished in double figures. Mason Keeton led the way with 19 points, while Hayden Brawner and Sam Bell each scored seven.
Oneida continues to play without Gavin Keeton, who is recovering from an injury.
Oneida led by double digits at halftime, 38-28, thanks to a 23-9 run during an impressive second quarter. Oneida shot 56% from the field in the first half.
But the Indians went ice cold against Pickett County's impressive pressing defense in the third quarter, and that allowed the Bobcats to go on a 24-3 run to build a double digit lead of its own, 52-41, going into the fourth quarter.
The game of runs saw Oneida take its shot in the final period, as the Indians held Pickett County without a field goal for the final 4:25 of the game.
Also scoring for Oneida were Zeb Spradlin with 9, Jeric Huling with 7, and Grady Keeton with 1.
The Indians will face Heritage Christian in the third place game at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Pickett County, meanwhile, will face Campbell County in the championship game at 8:30 p.m.
