©2010 NPT PHOTO BY PAUL MEADOR

Cosby junior Robert Herzog drained a three-pointer from the right corner
with one-second remaining to give the Eagles a dramatic one-point victory
over Pigeon Forge Monday night at the Eagles' Nest.

COSBY-The Cosby Eagles and Lady Eagles moved out of District and up one class Monday night when they hosted Pigeon Forge, and fans were treated to some great basketball.

In the opener, the Lady Eagles (11-3) were on a six-game winning streak. But, the Lady Tigers (14-2) were, at one point, state ranked in Class 2A, and for good reason. On this night, the Lady Eagles fell behind early, and, although they played fairly even over the final three quarters, the Lady Tigers prevailed 67-49.

In the nightcap, one for the ages. The Eagles (11-3) and Tigers (7-10) traded the lead right up to the end when the Eagles pulled out a miraculous one-point victory, 69-68, on a shot by Robert Herzog.

 

LADY EAGLES GROWING

Two very good basketball teams. The differences, however, favored the Lady Tigers. The Lady Eagles are very young, only one senior. The Lady Tigers more experienced, and one class higher. But no excuses for the Lady Eagles on this night. Despite being put in the hole early, the Lady Eagles fought tooth-and-nail right up to the final buzzer.

The Lady Tigers won this one in the first quarter, then managed to hold off any major runs by the Lady Eagles. The Lady Tigers jumped on the Lady Eagles for a 22-9 first-quarter lead. Beginning in a full-court zone press, the Lady Tigers were unable to stop the Lady Eagles from moving the ball up court. But, the Lady Tigers switched from the zone to a full-court man-to-man trap, which gave the Lady Eagles fits. With the Lady Tigers scoring both inside and outside, the Lady Eagles were busy trying to find an open look through the Lady Tigers' tenacious defense.

The Lady Eagles settled down, however, and went to work, giving the Lady Tigers all they could handle the rest of the way. The Lady Tigers took the second quarter by a mere one-point, 14-13, for a 36-22 lead at the break. The Lady Tigers took the third quarter 18-12 for a 54-34 lead after three. The Lady Eagles took the final quarter 15-13, but the Lady Tigers came away with the hard-earned 18-point victory.

Danielle Rauhuff had a game-high 23 points to lead the Lady Tigers while Cassidy Martin chipped in 18. Rauhuff also had four of Pigeon Forge's nine three-pointers on the night.

Cosby's two freshmen, Tiffany Smelcer and Lexi Lowery each had 11 points to pace the Lady Eagles. Alyssa McMahan finished with 9 points, Brittany Frisbee with 7, Taylor Valentine with 4, Brooklyn Stuart with 2, Maddie Hall with 2, Haley Helton with 2, and Keasley Shelton with 1 to round out the Cosby scoring. McMahan and Smelcer each contributed three of Cosby's seven three-pointers in the game.

With the loss, the Lady Eagles' six-game win streak came to an end. The Lady Tigers have now won 12 of their last 13.

 

PIGEON FORGE 67, COSBY 49

 

PIGEON FORGE

Danielle Rauhuff 8-13 3-3 23; Cassidy Martin 5-9 6-7 18; Ashley Wasnowski

3-5 0-0 8; Ashlyn Trotter 3-6 0-0 7; Kelsey Brooks 1-9 2-4 4; Briley

Shinliver 1-2 0-0 2; Courtney Ball 0-3 2-4 2; Emily Hurst 0-4 2-4 2; Sunni

McAlister 0-2 1-2 1; Mindy Brockins 0-1 0-0 0; Brittany Wood 0-0 0-0 0;

Katie Shields 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-54 16-24 67.

 

COSBY

Tiffany Smelcer 4-8 0-0 11; Lexi Lowery 3-6 4-4 11; Alyssa McMahan 3-11 0-0

9; Brittany Frisbee 3-6 1-2 7; Taylor Valentine 2-2 0-1 4; Brooklyn Stuart

1-3 0-0 2; Haley Helton 1-1 0-0 2; Maddie Hall 1-1 0-0 2; Keasley Shelton

0-0 1-2 1; Harley Ford 0-0 0-0 0; Maggie Gregg 0-0 0-0 0; Dani Butler 0-0

0-0 0; Whitney Black 0-0 0-0 0; Marlea Costner 0-1 0-0 0; Ally Hooper 0-0

0-0 0. Totals 18-39 6-9 49.

 

Pigeon Forge..................   22   14   18   13  -   67

Cosby.........................        9   13   12   15  -   49

 

3-point goals--Pigeon Forge 9-25 (Danielle Rauhuff 4-7; Ashley Wasnowski

2-3; Cassidy Martin 2-4; Ashlyn Trotter 1-1; Sunni McAlister 0-1; Courtney

Ball 0-3; Kelsey Brooks 0-6), Cosby 7-18 (Tiffany Smelcer 3-7; Alyssa

McMahan 3-8; Lexi Lowery 1-2; Marlea Costner 0-1). Fouled out--Pigeon

Forge-None, Cosby-Brittany Frisbee. Rebounds--Pigeon Forge 33 (Emily Hurst

7), Cosby 29 (Brooklyn Stuart 9). Assists--Pigeon Forge 13 (Kelsey Brooks

8), Cosby 16 (Lexi Lowery 4; Alyssa McMahan 4). Total fouls--Pigeon Forge

13, Cosby 16. Technical fouls--Pigeon Forge-None, Cosby-None.

 

EAGLES WIN THRILLER

Much like the Lady Eagles, the Eagles are a young squad as well, but have seen steady growth over the last seven games. Their last three games against Hancock County, Maryville Christian and Washburn have been solid performances, and it appears that the group has bought in to head coach Brad Flatford's system.

The Eagles came out against the Tigers Monday night with plenty of intensity and focus, playing tough defense, and trying to be smart offensively.

The Eagles, at one point, had a nine-point lead early. But the Tigers settled down, and Justin Carter started giving the Eagles fits by getting easy lay-ins inside. Even still, the Eagles took the first quarter 19-16.

The game would see-saw the rest of the way with neither team able to lead by more that five points. The Tigers took the second quarter 19-15, and led the Eagles by one, 35-34, at the break.

The two teams slowed offensively coming out of the locker rooms as both teams defenses stiffened. Cosby took the third quarter 13-12, and the score was all even, 47-47, heading into the final eight minutes.

That final eight minutes was something to behold. For most of it, the Eagles held the upper hand, getting five-point leads on three different occasions, and never trailing the Tigers. But, the Tigers clawed back, and the game remained tied heading into the closing seconds.

With under 27 seconds remaining, and the score tied, the Eagles came up with a huge steal. But, Seth Wyatt tried to hit Corey Conard with a pass deep inside, and, instead, the ball fell away into the hands of the Tigers. The Tigers quickly moved the ball up court, and, as he had done most of the night, Carter drove inside for a lay-up and a two-point Tiger lead.

Cosby immediately called a time-out to set up a final shot with just 4.7 seconds remaining. And, the set play worked. Working off a perfectly set screen, Robert Herzog blitzed into the right corner beyond the three-point arc, took the pass, and got nothing but net on a perfect shot to give the Eagles a one-point lead with .7 seconds remaining, and Eagle fans ready to storm the court. Following two time-outs, the Tigers last-ditch pass the length of the court was intercepted by Wyatt to preserve the Eagles one-point, and seventh straight, victory.

Herzog finished with 16 points to pace the Eagles while Wyatt ended up with 15 and Conard with 11. Jake Ledford finished with 7 points, Andrew Adams with 7, Zach Webb with 6, Jake Green with 5 and Brandon Gates with 2 to round out the Cosby scoring. The Eagles had eight three-pointers on the night, four coming from Herzog.

Carter finished with a game-high 22 points to lead the Tigers with Ben Cave chipping in 17. The Tigers managed five three-pointers in the contest.

 

COSBY 69, PIGEON FORGE 68

 

PIGEON FORGE

Justin Carter 10-18 2-7 22; Ben Cave 7-11 1-2 17; Ryan Crowe 4-11 0-0 10;

Aaron Justus 3-5 1-1 7; Billy Hewitt 2-4 0-0 4; Will Crowe 1-2 1-5 3; Andy

Barnett 1-4 0-0 3; Justin Kilgore 1-4 0-0 2; Curtis Jordan 0-1 0-0 0; Benton

Tinker 0-0 0-0 0; Parker atcliff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-60 5-15 68.

 

COSBY

Robert Herzog 6-10 0-1 16; Seth Wyatt 6-8 3-3 15; Corey Conard 4-4 3-5 11;

Jake Ledford 3-5 0-0 7; Andrew Adams 3-7 1-1 7; Zach Webb 2-5 0-0 6; Jake

Green 2-4 0-2 5; Brandon Gates 1-3 0-0 2; Nick Baxter 0-2 0-0 0. Totals

27-48 7-12 69.

 

Pigeon Forge..................   16   19   12   21  -   68

Cosby.........................       19   15   13   22  -   69

 

3-point goals--Pigeon Forge 5-15 (Ryan Crowe 2-4; Ben Cave 2-5; Andy Barnett

1-3; Justin Kilgore 0-1; Curtis Jordan 0-1; Justin Carter 0-1), Cosby 8-17

(Robert Herzog 4-6; Zach Webb 2-5; Jake Green 1-2; Jake Ledford 1-2; Nick

Baxter 0-2). Fouled out--Pigeon Forge-None, Cosby-None. Rebounds--Pigeon

Forge 29 (Justin Carter 9), Cosby 34 (Seth Wyatt 10). Assists--Pigeon Forge

13 (Justin Carter 5; Aaron Justus 5), Cosby 15 (Jake Green 5). Total

fouls--Pigeon Forge 13, Cosby 15. Technical fouls--Pigeon Forge-None,

Cosby-None.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

The junior Eagles started fast, the Tigers slow. But once the Tigers woke up, ouch!

The Eagles led 19-11 at the end of the first quarter, but the Tigers took control over the second frame, and led 27-24 at the break. Both teams fought hard over the third frame, with the Tigers leading 39-36 heading into the final eight minutes. But, the Eagles fell off, and the Tigers roared down the stretch, pulling away for the 15-point victory, 59-44.

Andy Barnett had 14 points to lead the Tigers with Will Crowe adding 12, Parker Ratclift 11 and Kaleb Black 10.

Drew Schreder had a game-high 15 points to pace the Eagles with Tanner Phillips adding 12.

 

UP NEXT

No rest for the weary. The Eagles and Lady Eagles are in a stretch where they will play four nights a week over the next two weeks.

The Eagles and Lady Eagles hit the road to Knoxville tonight for an out-of-District get-together with Berean Christian. Boy's junior varsity will start things off at 5 p.m.

The Eagles and Lady Eagles jump back in to District 2A play this Thursday, January 28, when they travel to Clinch. Boy's junior varsity will start the night off at five o'clock. This game had originally been scheduled for this Friday.

And this Saturday, January 30, the Eagles and Lady Eagles will host J. Frank White in another District 2A match-up that was rescheduled from January 8. Start times have been moved up with boy's JV starting off at 3 p.m., followed by girl's varsity at 4:30 p.m. and boy's varsity at around 6 p.m.