Lions sweep Macon County
Wednesday, January 28, 2015 10:55 am By JUSTIN BEASLEY,Courier Sports Writer Seventh year head coach Matt Rigsby is coaching one of his best teams he's had at Cannon County. With his talented group, the Lions have had double-digit leads often late into the third and early fourth quarters, but, Cannon County is still learning how to keep its foot on the gas pedal and play four full quarters of basketball. "We talk about four quarter stuff, that's two games in a row. Hopefully that's an upward trend," Rigsby said of his team's performance. Leading by 10 at the break, Cannon County (19-5, 8-1) worked to increase its advantage in the third quarter. Cannon County made 8-of-13 shots from the field in the third stanza and carried a 56-43 lead into the fourth. Jakes scored 10 in the second quarter alone, knocking down two consecutive 3's while taking a charge and forcing a turnover off a steal. "He had a heck of a night. I don't even need to see his stats," Rigsby said of Jakes' spark off the bench. "He can do that. There is a reason he has the minutes that he has." Three other Lions scored in double figures as well as Nave led the attack with 17 points, followed by Josh Ruehlen with 16 and Austin Martin with 14. Cannon County: Josh Ruehlen 16, Jacob Nave 17, Marshall McReynolds 5, Austin Martin 14, A.J. Daniel 3, Briar Jakes 15, Garrett McReynolds 8, Anton Knox 2. 4th quarter comeback extends win streak to 7 "Thanks goodness for free-throws," head coach Matt Rigsby said. "22-of-27 is a good way to bail yourself out of a jam." The Lions made 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the final quarter, including a perfect 6-of-6 from Jacob Nave. Cannon County (20-5, 9-1) led at the half by one point, but a 14-7 third quarter advantage for the Owls setup an opportunity for the Lions to get another come-from-behind victory. The win keeps Cannon County alone in first place of the district with Livingston Academy (18-5, 8-2) only one game behind. Only four players scored for the Lions as Josh Ruehlen led the way with 22 points. Nave and Garrett McReynolds added 12 and 11 respectively. Austin Martin tallied nine points and seven rebounds. Up next the Lions look to avenge their only district loss of the season as York Institute visits Robert A. Harris Gym on Tuesday for senior night. "We definitely owe them one, make no mistake about it," Rigsby said.
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