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Cosby Newspaper-cocke County COSBY-Upon scanning the 2004-05 Cosby schedule, one date stood out in particular, that the Cosby faithful circled, which was last night?s rare tussle with District 2-AAA foe Morristown East, out of the Inter-Mountain Athletic Conference, giving both the Eagles, and the Lady Eagles a strong test early in the season, against a higher level, AAA competition. The Lady Eagles (5-2) overcame a 3-of-32 performance from the field in the first half, to see Whitney Hannah score 24 points, leading her squad to a 47-38 victory over the visiting Lady Hurricanes (1-6) Meanwhile, the Hurricanes (5-4) of head coach Calvin Decker dispatched the Eagles (5-2) 52-48 in the nightcap despite not being able to stop Timmy Blakely, as the 6-4 junior captured his fourth double-double in as many games, scoring 17 points, and capturing 10 rebounds. Eagles Have Positives, Yet Too Many Negatives ?Every time we seemed to do something really good, and get something going, we did something bad,? said Cosby head coach Brad Flatford following the loss. ?We just made too many mistakes down the stretch in the last four minutes.? The Eagles blazed out to a quick 7-2 lead in the game behind Blakely and Dexter Manning, saw the Hurricanes battle back strongly, going on a 16-4 run to close the period, and take an 18-11 lead. ?We didn?t find #21 (Cory Shaw) in a zone. They did a good job, he got loose, and had 15 points in the first half,? said the Eagles head man of the quick lead evaporating. Morristown East continued to build on the lead, before Jenkins connected on a three-point play, followed by a 3-pointer with 38 seconds in the half, to pull Cosby to within 29-27, before the ?Canes pushed their halftime lead to 30-28. Out of the locker room, there was a good chance someone doused lighter fluid on East?s Kent Basile. The 6-2 sophomore shot the lights out, as he could not miss from the field, as he scored nine consecutive points for the Hurricanes, culminated with a trey at the 2:47 mark of the period, which pushed the Morristown East advantage to 41-35. The Hurricanes scored two more in the period to lead Cosby 43-35 heading into the final period. To open the frame, the Eagles Nest was rocking, as it appeared as if Cosby was on the comeback trail. The Eagles opened the period on an 8-2 run, which had East ahead 47-43 with 3:24 left in the period. A bucket by Blakely pushed the score to 47-45, before trouble ensued. At the 2:05 mark, Blakely picked up his fourth foul of the evening, and on the inbounds play, Shaw got lost behind the Cosby defense, giving him what appeared to be an open lay-up, however Blakely, trying to prevent the easy basket, committed his fifth foul, as he prevented Shaw from making the basket. ?I don?t know whose fault that was,? said Flatford of Shaw getting behind the Cosby defense. ?It was probably a combination of everybody there, a guy got loose, and Timmy picked up his fifth.? However, with Blakely gone, Cosby was still very much in the ballgame, trailing by four after Shaw converted his free tosses. And it was sophomore Todd Jenkins breathing a breath of fresh life into the Eagles when he connected on a key 3-pointer, bringing Cosby to within one, with less than one minute to play. However, just as quickly, the Hurricanes knocked that fresh breath out of the Eagles, as alertly of the inbounds, Andrew Pierce found his way streaking down the court on a fast break, leaving the Eagles defense in the dust. Manning caught up to Pierce, fouling him as his lay-in went down. Pierce connected on the free throw, making the margin 52-48. Two consecutive turnovers off ill-advised passes sealed the victory for the Hurricanes, who take on West Greene on Monday. Shaw and Basile led the Hurricanes with 17 each, while Pierce scored 10. Dustin Farthing scored four, while Daniel Deaderick and Chase Goins each had two. East was 18/44 from the field, while shooting 12/19 from the stripe, and grabbing 17 rebounds. Only four Eagles made their way into the scoring column, as Blakely led the way with 17, followed by Jenkins and Manning with 15 each. Scott Walker added one. Cosby was 20/48 from the field (5/18 from beyond the arc), while shooting only 3/5 from the free throw line. Cosby grabbed 24 rebounds, seven offensive, 17 defensive.

Elizabethton Star Boys Morristown East 56-54 Just like a houdini Morristown East escaped with a two-point win after stealing the game in the final seconds against the Unaka Rangers. Tyler McCann's three-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the rim after Unaka held a four point margin with under two minutes to go. "We were dead headed and star craving and the mistakes we were making theirs no excuse for," stated Ranger head coach Donald Ensor. "We didn't deserve to win this basketball game and was lucky to win the one last night." East jumped out to an 6-2 lead but Unaka battled back after McCann and Chase Reeves were able to knock down jumpers to knot the score at 8-8. The Hurricanes behind two baskets from Jerry Harris pushed the lead at 12-8 but a three-point play from Rusty Holtsclaw cut the margin at 12-11 after one period of play. East started the second quarter on a 7-0 run before Unaka scored its first points on a jumper by Derek Cline at the 6:11 mark. The Hurricanes extended the margin at 24-13 before the Rangers started to mount a comeback. Buckets by Reeves and Cline sliced the lead at six followed by a off-balanced leaner from Aaron Greer that closed the gap at 24-21. East led by seven until a deuce by Holtsclaw and two free throws from Greer whittled the lead to 28-25 at intermission. The Hurricanes held a 32-29 until Andrew Church buried a three at the 3:45 mark to tie the score at 32-32. Five consecutive points from Cline including a trey gave Unaka a 37-32 lead. Unaka managed a 44-40 advantage at the end of three thanks to deuces from Holtsclaw and McCann. "Andrew (Church) came off the bench and played really well stated Ensor. "He was the only player who came ready and played inspired basketball." East rode the outstanding play of sophomore sensation Kent Basile who had 12 of his game high 22 points in the fourth quarter to stay within striking distance of the Rangers. A long three by Reeves gave Unaka its largest lead at 47-40. Another three by McInturff kept the lead at 54-50 after East had cut the lead to one. The Hurricanes decided to give Unaka its television version of its takes a thief. Back-to-back steals and buckets by Basile tied the score at 54-54. With .14 second remaining Daniel Deaderich managed another steal at mid-court and race the distance for a layup giving East a 56-54 lead. Unaka called timeout and ran the last play to perfection to get the shot they wanted but McCann shot was a tad to long and East escaped with the win. Holtsclaw tallied 15 to lead the Rangers while Cline followed with 14. Basile led all scorers with 22. "They beat us up and down the floor and our senior leadership is not where it needs to be right now, added Ensor." "They got to have their priorities right and right now we play like a team that don't have it's priorities right." Unaka will play in the consolation game Wednesday at 5:30.

Easy= Holtsclaw--Unaka

Jody Wright --Fulton