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RUTLEDGE – Cocke County maintained their hold on second place in the district standings with an impressive 59-42 win over Grainger Friday night.

The Lady Red threw an impressive defense at the Lady Grizzlies in The Den as Grainger had trouble against Cocke County’s super-quick guards. Head coach Chris Mintz said that has been his team’s trademark all season. “We aren’t a very big team and our guards are pretty quick and are getting better. They are young but they are starting to understand the game. Right before halftime, we turned the ball and then we made a bad play because we didn’t wait to take the last shot but in the third, we took the last shot and made it so I think our team is growing up.”

“Defensively, we played well and it really helped when we got Maddie Hurst in foul trouble because she is a really good player,” Mintz said. “We stepped up and did what we needed to do. We got the lead out to 11 but then gave them six points right at the end of the second quarter. I told our team that if we kept our intensity, we would be okay and we came out and played a lot better in the second half.”

Grainger head coach Rusty Bishop gave credit where credit was due. “That was probably the best defense effort any team has ever put up against us,” the Grizzly boss said. “Sometimes I just have to find what buttons to push for this group to get them going and maybe over the next three weeks I can. We play hard, we just don’t play smart sometimes. We came out of the locker room at the half and cut it to five in the third but then we made too many lapses on the defensive end to beat a team that is as good as Cocke County.”

Adison Hayes had the hot hand for Grainger (10-12, 2-3) early on as she hit three shots from downtown in the opening period. Grainger built a 13-7 lead at the 4:40 mark on a basket by Makayla Scott but that was all the scoring the Lady Grizzlies had the rest of the second period. Paige Niethammer’s basket with less than a minute to go capped a 10-0 Cocke County run that gave them a 17-13 lead headed the second period.

The Lady Red (14-8, 4-1) maintained their comfortable lead until Grainger was able to get the deficit down to four at 25-21 on a triple by Addison Brickey. Cocke County responded with seven unanswered points to take a double digit lead until Scott responded with a basket and then Hayes had a steal and layup with three seconds remaining in the half to make the tally 32-25.

Niethammer opened the third period with a pair of three’s and Cocke County kept the defense in lockdown mode to the tune of 10 points in a row and went up 48-31 at the of the period with a duo of arc shots from Adisen McNealy and Halle Kitchen. Niethammer hit a three and then a hoop-and-harm for three more points early in the fourth period as the Cocke County lead ballooned to 20 points. Grainger hit a few shots to chip into the lead but it was a matter of free throws down the stretch as the Lady Red went to the charity stripe eight times in the final four minutes in the 59-42 win. “She’s our workhorse and when she goes good, we go good,” Mintz said of Niethammer.

Niethammer led all scorers with 19 points. McNealy and Blake Clevenger each scored 12 for Cocke County. Hayes scored 15 to pace the Lady Grizzlies.

Grainger plays at Claiborne on Tuesday and Cocke County takes on Jefferson County.