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It may have not been exactly the shot that Bo Lewis wanted, but one thing he knew for sure was that he wanted the ball in Madi Hawk’s hands.

Down nine points with four minutes left against Morristown West on Friday night, Jeff County made a ferocious comeback as they tied the game at 55 and had the ball with under a minute to go.

Lewis called timeout to set up a play that would get Hawk the ball on a backdoor cut. However, West clogged up the middle and Hawk ended up with the ball in the corner behind the 3-point line. Hawk had 22 points in the game to that point and threw up a shot with five seconds to go.

Seconds later, Hawk had 25 points.

Hawk’s shot found the bottom of the net, and that was good enough for Jeff County to pick up their first district win of the season, 58-55.

“She came on out to the three, and she practices daily and puts up so many reps shooting those perimeter shots,” Lewis said. “She’s practiced that shot millions of times. It presented itself for her, and I have confidence in her.

“The girls continued to give great effort tonight from start to finish. I’m just ecstatic for our team. We’ve been through some valleys these last couple of weeks.”

While Hawk hit the final shot to save the day, it was senior Reagan Cotter who deserved much of the credit for the Lady Patriots even being in that spot at the end of the game.

Cotter, who normally doesn’t start but got the nod on Friday for senior night, hit five 3-pointers in the second half on her way to 15 points.

Cotter’s three’s could not have come at a better time in the game with Jeff County going through a lengthy scoring drought. Cotter’s first 3-pointer cut a West lead to five early in the second half. Then, after West responded with five quick points to get the lead back to 10, Cotter hit another three to stop the bleeding.

Cotter’s third 3-pointer of the quarter came with 1:31 left and made it a six-point game. In the fourth, Cotter opened the quarter with a three and then hit one more with 2:12 left in the game that made it a three-point game.

“Reagan Cotter had the game of her life tonight,” Lewis said. “She is just a kid that does the right thing and has never once complained about playing time. Whether she gets two minutes a game or plays the whole game like tonight. She’s just a good kid and tries to do the right thing. She’s represented our program the right way. She made some big defensive stops, as well.”

For Morristown West, it was an unfortunate end to a game that they controlled for almost the entirety of.

The key difference in the final minutes of the game were the turnovers as West didn’t deal with the Lady Patriots full-court pressure well and gave the basketball up. That, along with going 9-22 from the free throw line, was a recipe for disaster for the Lady Trojans.

“We just started turning it over too much late in the game,” Morristown West coach Johnny Galyon said. “We got caught up a little in the crowd in the fourth quarter. 9-22 from the free throw line and turn it over that many times, that’s kind of the medicine you’re going to have to take when you do that.”

West was led in the game by Delaney Weddington with 17 points while Kaylee Dyke added 15 and Jhaniya Mitchell had 11. Other scorers for West were Mia Dinkins with eight, Aubrie Messer with three and Cadence Beaver with one.

For the Lady Patriots, Hawk was the leading scorer with 25 points while Cotter added her 15. Other scorers for Jeff County were Adalyn Arnstrom with six, Kamry Bolin with four, Brooke Satterfied with three, Caroline Loveday with three and Makenzie Alvey with two.

With the win, Jeff County moved to 1-3 in district play while Morristown West fell to 1-3.

It was a back-and-forth affair to start the game as the two teams were tied at five and then eight before the Lady Patriots scored seven of the final eight points to lead 15-9. Hawk had seven points in the opening frame while Bolin knocked down a 3-pointer.

However, as has been the case a lot this season, the second quarter saw the Lady Patriots struggle on both ends of the floor. West opened up the quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 24-15 lead. During the run, Dyke hit a 3-pointer while Mitchell scored six and Weddington threw in six more points. Weddington, Dyke and Mitchell scored all 18 of West’s points in the second quarter.

The Lady Patriots finally got on the board with four minutes to go in the half but trailed 27-20 heading into the locker room.

Over the past couple weeks, that second quarter has been the difference in the game for Jeff County. However, this time around the Lady Patriots were determined to not make that the case.

“We just hope that we have learned from those moments when we have done it in the past,” Lewis said. “I wish we would stop doing that, honestly. Because we played so well in the first quarter and did everything right. I don’t know where that lack of concentration goes. Thankfully, it worked out in our favor tonight.”

In the third quarter, Cotter scored half of her teams points with the three 3-pointers as the Lady Patriots inched their way closer, trailing by six going to the fourth quarter. Jeff County could have had it even closer, but West hit some timely shots as Dyke hit a 3-pointer with 20 seconds to go that made it 45-39. Dyke had eight in the third while Weddington scored five and Messer got a key offensive rebound and put the ball back in.

West started strong again in the fourth and seemed to be on their way to the victory as Mitchell and Weddington scored six straight to make it 51-42. Hawk quickly scored four and Arnstrom made a shot to make it a three-point game, but Dinkins was left wide open at the top of the key. Dinkins’ three made it 54-48 with two minutes to go.

The Lady Patriots answered with a three by Cotter and, after West made a free throw, Hawk scored, stole the ball and then scored while being fouled to tie the game with 59 seconds left. Hawk would miss the free throw, but the Lady Patriots held on the defensive end and got the final shot for Hawk. She didn’t miss.

“We really needed this one tonight,” Lewis said. “Not even just thinking about the standings but for our mental physique. We’ve been on a four-game skid and didn’t have a district win. Any night can be like this in our district. It just feels great seeing the joy on my players’ faces and getting to celebrate together.”

The Lady Patriots followed up Friday’s win with a 49-33 win over Volunteer on Saturday.

West will be back in action on Monday as they travel to The King’s Academy. Tip is set for 6 p.m.

“We’re just going to have to get back to the gym and get better,” Galyon said.