Tough week for Cannon teams

DAVID HUNTER
The Cannon Courier

It was a tough week on the hardwood for the Cannon County High School basketball team as both teams went 0-2 in district play this week.

Both the Lions and Lionettes fell to Upperman and Smith County last week to continue a losing streak by both teams.

CCHS opened district play and the busy month of December by making the long trip to Upperman on Dec. 2. However, they were stung by the Bees by a large margin in both games with the Lions falling 78-43, and Lionettes lost to the 2016 Class AA State runner-up, 77-30.

A few night later, CCHS hosted Smith County in the final home game of 2016 at Robert A. Harris Gymnasium as the Lionettes were hoping to end a three-game losing streak, and Lions wanted to get back on track after starting the season dropping five out of their first six games.

It was another slow start by the Lionettes as they gave up a buzzer beater at the half by the Owls to fall behind, 34-14. However, they never gave up in the second half as they went on a 16-0 run to cut the advantage down to 42-32 after a put back by junior post Maleah Scott.

The CCHS defense held SCHS scoreless during the last 5:16 of the third quarter.

However, it would be the closest the Lionettes would get, as the Lady Owls nailed a trey with 5:34 left in the game to put the game out of reach with the 59-43 win. The loss dropped the Lionettes to (2-5, 0-2) on the season, and extended their losing streak to four.

"The first half was absolutely terrible," Lion-ettes head coach Jonathan Odom said after the loss on Dec. 6. "We got to decide that we are going to be a team that plays four quarters. We cannot get into the habit of playing a half. It has been a recurring theme of ours this year," he said.

"When you dig yourself a double-digit hole, the odds of you coming back and winning are not very good. We can make runs, and the message going forward is do not wait until you are down double digits to start executing. We have been drilling defensive principals for the last week during practice, and we are not playing enough defense consistently."

"We are not doing the things we need to do to compete in this district,"

Odom said.

As for the Lions, the other thing happened as they got off to a fast start, but the Owls took control in the second half to win 84-67. Junior Cole George connected on a buzzer beater to end the opening quarter with the Lions on top, 17-9.

However, the rest of the game belonged to the Owls, including scoring whopping 32 points in the second quarter alone to take a 41-32 halftime lead.

SCHS opened the third quarter on a 11-0 run to expand their advantage to 54-36. The Lions cut it down to 11, 56-45 after a three-point play by junior Trey Fann late in the quarter. However, it would be the closest the Lions would get for the rest of the game.

"I was proud for the guys with the start of the game," Lions head coach Matt Rigsby said. "Our energy was great. Execution wise for the most part was good in the first quarter. We won the first quarter against a tough opponent. "

When we got some youth on our side, it is always a struggle to have the consistency with those things throughout a whole basketball game," he said.

"The second quarter when you give up 32 points in one quarter you are not likely to win, and that is what Smith County did in the second quarter. Defensively we have to be better than that," said Rigsby.

The loss dropped the Lions to (1-6, 0-2) on the young campaign.

Next week, CCHS finishes district play for 2016 with road trips to rival DeKalb County on Dec. 9 and York Institute on Dec. 13, before both squads play in a couple of holiday tournaments during the Christmas Break.