Lady Cougars 45 Lenoir City 27 – Cougars 77 Lenoir City 76 (2 OT)

By Clayton Carroll

JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) -Campbell County made a trip to Lenoir City to face off against the Panthers tipping off the 2023-2024 basketball season. Josh Parker was back behind the mic for WLAF so already it was set to be an exciting night of basketball.

Watch the games HERE on demand from WLAF.

The Lady Cougars, led by head coach Jason Kitts began the evening with a contest against the former Lady Vol Shelley Collier led Lenoir City Panthers.

The story of the night was the Lady Cougar’s stifling defense.  As in the first quarter, Campbell held Lenoir City to only six points. Campbell held on to a 9-6 lead at the end of the first.

The second quarter proved much the same for the Lady Cougars as Campbell outscored the Lady Panthers 9-5, taking a 18-11 lead into the halftime break.

The third quarter was where the Lady Cougar defense really kicked into high gear. Lenoir City was only able to score four points in the entire 3rd quarter. 

In the fourth, the Lady Cougars kept adding to the lead, ending up with 45 points on the night as opposed to the Lady Panthers 27.

Carley Kitts was the leading scorer for Campbell County with 14 points on the night. Josh Parker got to use his patented and long-awaited “Cha-Ching!” catchphrase four times for Carley, as Kitts tallied four three pointers in the game. Joining Carley in scoring was Saylor Hutcheson with 11, Bella Lester scored 8 points; Lacey Pemberton had 5. Carley Kitts’s sister, Jayden, had four points, and Aleeah Woodson made a 3-pointer as well.

Destiny Rutherford, Reagan Stanfill, Reagan Davis, and Preslee Chapman all played but did not score.

Next it was the Cougars’ turn. The two teams were engaged in a back-and-forth affair starting from the jump ball. At the end of the first, Lenoir City maintained a 10-6 lead over the Cougars.

The Cougars, once down 21-11, narrowed the lead at halftime only trailing 26-23. Lenoir City outscored Campbell 19-14 in the third. With 7:10 left to go in the game, Campbell was down 11. The game looked as if it was over, however, Gavin Cox, had other plans. Cox connected from long range to ignite the Cougars, who proceeded to go on a 14-3 run to tie the game with 3:27 left to go in regulation.

Thirty-two minutes would not be enough to decide the contest because at the end of the fourth quarter, the teams were tied at 62.

In the first overtime, Lenoir City put six points on the scoreboard, and Campbell did as well, meaning that a second overtime would be necessary. After Josh Parker apologized on the air to CCHS Principal Ben Foust for possibly being late for bus duty on Wednesday due to the Parker having to work multiple overtimes, the second extra period would begin with Campbell County winning the tip.

Campbell County outscored the Panthers 9-8 in the second overtime to leave Lenoir City with a victory. Final score: Cougars 77 Lenoir City 76.

Gavin Cox was the alpha Tuesday night for Campbell County, scoring a whopping 32 points. Luke Browning also had double digit points on the night with 16. Jordan Day (4), Gavin Owens (5), Tyler Kitts (7), and Jake Hatmaker (2) and Gabe St. John (4) all had single digit scoring numbers, and made some critical plays both offensively and defensively.

Both the Lady Cougars and Cougars began the season with wins heading into their home opener against Union County. The Lady Cougars and Cougars face off against the Patriots Friday on the John (R.W.) Brown Court. The girls game tips at 6pm and the boys game follows. Josh Parker brings you all the live coverage over the various media outlets at WLAF beginning at approximately 5:50 pm. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 11/15/2023-6AM)

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