COSBY-Things couldn't be sweeter at the Eagles' Nest after the Eagles and Lady Eagles continued their undefeated run through District 2A with a sweep of Washburn on Friday night.

The Lady Eagles (15-3, 6-0) saw every player with plenty of minutes on court, and 11 of them contributing points as they downed the Lady Pirates (6-11, 2-2) 56-31, completing a sweep of their two-game regular season series.

The first time the Eagles and Pirates got together on January 15 at Washburn, the Eagles had to come from behind, and with just seconds remaining, pulled out a two-point victory. But on Friday night on the Eagles' home court, a different story. Despite a slow night, the Eagles (15-3, 6-0) had more than enough to dispatch the Pirates (11-8, 4-2) 51-34.

With the victory, the Eagles virtually clinched the District 2A regular season championship, with the Pirates suffering two losses, both to Cosby, and Hancock County now with three losses. The Eagles have just two District 2A games remaining at Hancock and J. Frank White.

The Lady Eagles have also pretty much wrapped up the District 2A regular season crown, although Hancock County is still barely alive. The Lady Eagles, with just two District 2A regular season games remaining, are now a perfect 41-0 in District 2A since joining the District two-and-a-half seasons ago.

 

LADY EAGLES POUNCE

The Lady Eagles have dispatched each and every District 2A opponent with ease so far, and Friday night was no different.

The Lady Eagles jumped on the Lady Pirates early, racing out to a 17-4 first-quarter lead. Senior Brittany Frisbee led the first-quarter charge, knocking down four baskets en route to a 10-point performance. Junior point guard Alyssa McMahan and freshman Tiffany Smelcer both connected from long range, McMahan getting the first of three three-pointers on the night and Smelcer the first of two to help the first quarter cause.

The Lady Eagles were relentless, continuing their push through the second eight minutes with 14 more points, upping their lead to 19, 31-12, at the half. Taylor Valentine came off of the bench and took control of the paint, getting two baskets and a free throw to lead the Lady Eagles' second-quarter charge. While Smelcer connected from beyond the arc and McMahan, Frisbee and freshman Lexi Lowery contributed single baskets, the Lady Eagles were in the driver's seat.

Lady Eagles' head coach Richard Coggins has had the luxury of playing his entire bench often this season, and he did so again Friday night, substituting often through the remaining two quarters.

While holding the Lady Pirates to just five points, the Lady Eagles threw down another 14 points in the third quarter for a 28-point lead, 45-17. McMahan did most of the damage with two three-pointers and a deuce for the Lady Eagles while Valentine, Brooklyn Stuart and Whitney Black each contributed two-pointers.

Down the stretch, baskets by Marlea Costner, Dani Butler, Keasley Shelton and Lindsey Wines finished things out, along with two free throws from Shelton and a single free throw by Costner to make it 56-31.

"Things could change next week," said coach Coggins. "I know we've had some wins by big margins, but Tuesday we head to Pigeon Forge and Thursday we're back home to Unaka. Pigeon Forge beat us pretty good on our home court, so we know what to expect when we go there on Tuesday. And, Unaka has got a really good team out of a really strong District. And, we've still got to play Hancock again on February 15. We handled them pretty well on our home court, but they're always a tougher team at home. We need those games though. They'll be good for us, win or lose."

COSBY (56): Alyssa McMahan 13, Brittany Frisbee 10, Taylor Valentine 7, Tiffany Smelcer 7, Lexi Lowery 4, Keasley Shelton 4, Marlea Costner 3, Dani Butler 2, Brooklyn Stuart 2, whitney Black 2, Lindsey Wines 2.

WASHBURN (31): Ashley Meyers 13, Allison Givens 8, Erin Frye 6, Samantha Meade 2, Danielle Burt 1, Morgan Nicely 1.

 

FG: Cosby (23-51, 45%), Washburn (8-35, 23%); 3-Point FG: Cosby (5-16, 31%), Washburn 3-10, 30%); FT: Cosby (5-9, 56%), Washburn (12-22, 55%); Rebounds: Cosby (27; Maggie Gregg 5, Brooklyn Stuart 5, Ally Hooper 4, Taylor Valentine 4), Washburn (24; Erin Frye 6, Allison Givens 6); TO: Cosby (14), Washburn (22); Fouls: Cosby (17), Washburn (10).

 

EAGLES OVERCOME

The Eagles didn't have their best of nights, but they still had more than enough to capture their 11th straight victory.

"We were really tight at times," said Eagles' head coach Brad Flatford. "We really need to relax a lot more. We didn't play very well, to tell you the truth. I'm sure this wasn't a very fun game to watch."

While the Eagles couldn't seem to find any rhythm, the Pirates were having their own problems, mainly trying to contain the two Eagles' big men, junior Corey Conard and senior Seth Wyatt.

Conard had his second consecutive double-double, scoring 13 points and hauling down 13 rebounds. Wyatt came up one rebound short of a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing nine boards on the night.

"That was the difference right there," said coach Flatford. Corey and Seth did a good job under the boards. Washburn stayed in a zone all night because they couldn't match up with our size. So we tried some different things. But, we just never were able to get comfortable."

Meanwhile, the Eagles continue to improve defensively, and on Friday, kept the Pirates pretty much in check.

"We played man all night," said coach Flatford. "And, it worked pretty well for us."

The Pirates managed only 32 shots on the night, compared to 50 for the Eagles. In addition, the Eagle defense shut down the Pirates' three-point threat, holding them to just 2-12 in the game. The Eagles fired up 23 attempts from beyond the arc on the evening, by far their largest number of attempts on the season, and knocked down six of them, two from Jake Ledford, who started the game with a three from the right corner, and one each from Nick Baxter, Zach Webb, Andrew Adams and Robert Herzog.

The Eagles took a 10-6 first-quarter lead, and pushed their lead to nine, 23-14, at the break. The Eagle lead was 13, 34-21 at the end of three, and that had the coaches concerned.

"It was like our lead stayed the same all night," said coach Flatford. "We would look up at the scoreboard, and our lead just wouldn't change. It certainly wasn't big enough for them to overcome."

Not to worry, however, as Wyatt stepped to the forefront down the stretch, controlling the paint with all of his 10 points over the last eight minutes, four baskets and two free throws. Baxter got all of his five points in the final quarter and Brandon Gates buried two free throws to seal the Eagles' 17-point victory.

"You're going to have these kinds of nights," said coach Flatford. "It wasn't pretty. But, a win is a win. We'll take it."

COSBY (51): Corey Conard 13, Seth Wyatt 10, Jake Ledford 6, Brandon Gates 6, Andrew Adams 5, Nick Baxter 5, Robert Herzog 3, Zach Webb 3.

WASHBURN (34): Lucas Brooks 10, Steven Hoskins 8, J.D. Dunn 6, Taylor Nicely 6, Josh Taylor 4.

 

FG: Cosby (20-50, 40%), Washburn (13-32, 41%); 3-Point FG: Cosby (6-23, 26%), Washburn (2-12, 17%); FT: Cosby (5-7, 71%), Washburn (6-14, 43%); Rebounds: Cosby (35; Corey Conard 13, Seth Wyatt 9, Andrew Adams 4, Jake Green 4), Washburn (17; Lucas Brooks 7, Taylor Nicely 4); TO: Cosby (12), Washburn (13); Fouls: Cosby (14), Washburn (8).

 

EAGLE JV ROCKS

First-year head coach Cody Lowe is smiling these days. After a slow start to the season, the Eagle JV squad has come on like gang-busters of late.

The junior Eagles rolled to a 75-43 victory over the Pirates to start Friday's festivities off at the Eagles' Nest.

The Eagles exploded to a 28-5 first-quarter lead and never looked back, leading 50-16 at the break, 62-31 at the end of three, and cruised home with the 32-point victory, 75-43.

The Eagles had three players in double figures, led by Drew Schreder, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

COSBY (75): Drew Schreder 21, Cory Valentine 13, Tate Parton 10, Luke Lemons 7, Timmy Smelcer 7, Tanner Phillips 7, Jacob Baxter 6, Dylan Rone 4.

 

UP NEXT

Cosby will take a break from District 2A play in the coming week with two out-of-district get-togethers.

On Tuesday, February 9, the Eagles and Lady Eagles will travel to Pigeon Forge take on the Class 2A Tigers and Lady Tigers. In their first get-together on January 25 at the Eagles' Nest, the Eagles pulled out a one-point victory while the Lady Tigers swamped the Lady Eagles. Needless to say, the Tigers and Lady Tigers home court is not an easy place for opponents. Boy's JV will start things off Tuesday at 5 p.m.

On Thursday, February 11, the Eagles and Lady Eagles will host District 1A Unaka. This will be Cosby's last regular season home game, and will take on a special air as the seniors will be honored, including the Lady Eagles' lone senior Brittany Frisbee, and the Eagles three seniors, Nick Baxter, Seth Wyatt and Jake Green. They're hoping for a huge turn-out for this one which will feature only varsity, beginning with the ladies at 6:30 p.m.