Wednesday, January 9, 2013 2:47 pm

By TONY STINNETT/ Courier Sports Editor

LIVINGSTON - Cannon County took control of the District 8-AA girls basketball race by securing a pivotal 64-62 road win at Livingston Academy in a showdown of league unbeatens here Friday (Jan. 4).

Abbey Sissom scored a game-high 23 points on the strength of 5-of-8 shooting from 3-point range, and Madison Walkup provided the key spark off of the bench with 14 points and four rebounds to pace the Lionettes.

Cannon County improved to 17-1 overall and 5-0 in District 8-AA. The Lionettes are the only remaining team with no district losses.

“This is a huge win for our team,” Sissom said. “It’s not easy to win on the road in our district and it’s really difficult to get a win at Livingston Academy so this one is big.”

Abby Jakes added 13 points and Rebekah Faulkner finished with seven points, six rebounds and two blocks for the Lionettes.

It was a game of runs.

Cannon County was on the verge of running Livingston Academy (18-4, 3-1) out of its home gym when the Lionettes built a 44-30 lead midway through the third quarter and led 50-37 after Sissom and Jakes knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to end the third quarter.

“We had the momentum but you knew Livingston was not going to lay down,” said Cannon County Head Coach Michael Dodgen. “They are too good of a team and have too much pride. We just had to survive that run. It really was a great basketball game.