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NEWPORT – Things looked glum for Morristown West on Tuesday evening with a minute to go in the third quarter as the Trojans trailed Cocke County by 17 points.

Facing that deficit, the Morristown West team from last year most likely would have thrown in the towel and moved onto the next game.

However, while it wasn’t enough in the end, this year’s Morristown West team showed how much they have grown up with an almost miraculous comeback.

West scored six points in the final minute of the third quarter and then out-scored Cocke County by 10 in the fourth. A last second three pointer went through the net for West but, with no timeouts, the Trojans couldn’t stop the clock and time ran out giving Cocke County a 60-59 victory.

With the loss, West fell to 8-7 on the season. Cocke County improved to 10-6 on the season.

“We talk all the time that we aren’t going to be a team that quits,” Morristown West coach Joe Dobyns said. “We have to keep grinding it out and find a way. The guys on the floor (at the end of the game) did that. They just came up a few plays short. That goes back to the beginning of the game. When you lose a game by one, you can go back to the first possession of the game. Or the second. Anything can happen. A missed free throw, missed layup or rebound adds up in a one-point game.”

It was the bench play from West that jumpstarted them in that second half as Kyan Almonte had 12 points and Damian Morgan had eight.

For Dobyns, it was good to see players come off the bench and provide a spark and play the way he wants his team to play.

“Damian has done a good job for us all year, and he came in tonight and continued to do a good job for us,” Dobyns said. “Kyan came off the bench and played real well for us, as well. We just were looking for anybody to give us a spark and step up and play like a man. That’s what we are looking for, whoever it may be. We don’t care who it is. We’re just looking for five guys that play the right way and play with toughness.”

While the comeback was impressive from West in the fourth quarter, it was the first half and the start of the third quarter that proved to be the difference as the shots didn’t go down for the Trojans.

On the other side, Cocke County did see the ball go through the net and carried that momentum over.

“We got a lot of good looks that we just missed,” Dobyns said. “We just have to step up and knock those down. We got down, got frustrated and let the officials take us out of it. That’s on me because we can’t get frustrated and lose our head when things aren’t going our way because that’s going to happen. We just have to make sure we keep our composure.”

Along with Almonte and Morgan, Ty Steisslinger finished in double figures with 10 points and had five in the final eight minutes. Other scorers for West were Tory House with nine, Alban Oruglica with eight, Jalen McCullough with four, Bricyn Gudger with three, Bereket Evans with three and Rylin King with two.

For Cocke County, Kyler Hayes was dominant in the paint with 19 points. Baylor Baxter added nine while Brazen Stewart had eight. Other scorers for Cocke County were Oren Hazelwood with seven, Ethan Fine with six, Lakin France with six, Rolando Campos with three and Zeke Ramos with two.

It was all Cocke County to start in the game as they got up 9-2 with Stewart scoring four. West got two quick buckets from House and McCullough to get it down to three, but Cocke County answered with four. A three by Evans late in the quarter made it 13-9 in favor of Cocke County after one.

In the second, Cocke County scored the first 10 points to make it 23-9. House and Almonte scored to end the run, but a 3-point play by Baxter made it 29-16 with two minutes to go in the half. Trying to find momentum going into the locker room, West did as they scored the final nine points to make it 29-25. Almonte hit a three while Oruglica, Steisslinger and Morgan all scored.

The third quarter saw more shots go through the next for Cocke County as Hayes scored six straight and back-to-back threes by Hazelwood made it 46-29. Once again needing a spark to end a quarter, West got it as Almonte scored five and House made a free throw to cut the lead to 46-35 heading to the fourth.

In the fourth, West kept pushing as a Steisslinger 3-pointer got the lead down to five with 3:30 to go. After the two teams traded buckets, Hayes hit what felt like the dagger 3-pointer with 2:03 left that made it 55-47.

Cocke County scored once more to make it a 10-point game, but West scored four quick ones. Following a missed free throw by Cocke County, Morgan made a layup to make it 57-53. Cocke County missed another free throw with 44 seconds to go, but West couldn’t capitalize on the other end and had to foul Baxter. Baxter made both free throws to push the lead to six.

With 32 seconds left, all Cocke County needed was a stop but Stewart fouled Oruglica on a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining. Oruglica hit all three free throws to cut the lead to three. West fouled quick and France went one of two from the line. The Trojans quickly moved the ball down the floor and found Oruglica for a wide open three. He connected but with 3.9 seconds left, Cocke County let the time run out and held on.

West will be back in action on Friday as they travel to take on Morristown East. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. as both teams are looking to start conference play 2-0.

“We just have to make sure we’re tough enough to go up and handle the challenge,” Dobyns said. “We have to make shots when we have the opportunity. We know it’s going to be an extremely tough challenge at their place. They’re going to shoot well. We just have to find guys who are willing to rise up and meet the challenge.”

Cocke County returns to action on Friday as they host Robbinsville (NC). Tip is set for 8 p.m.

Other Lakeway Area scores

Jeff County 50, Knox Central 40