Goodpasture 49, ECS 44: PJay Smith leads Cougars to first finals appearance since 1999

COOKEVILLE – Goodpasture is back in the state finals for the first time since 1999.

The Cougars defeated Evangelical Christian School 49-44 on Thursday at Tennessee Tech in the DII-A semifinals.

PJay Smith led Goodpasture with a team-high 25 points and nine rebounds. Goodpasture (27-1) plays the CPA/Tipton-Rosemark winner at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the DII-A championship.

The duel between Smith and Marquette signee Kam Jones started with Jones scoring 14 of the Eagles' 20 first-half points and Smith scoring 14 of Goodpasture's 24. 

Jones finished with 27 points and 13 rebounds, but the Eagles struggled shooting as a team going 6-for-24 from the field.

Holding a four-point lead going into the fourth, Smith scored the first five points of the quarter to push the lead to nine.

ECS chopped away at the Cougars' lead and had it down three with 38.5 remaining but couldn't pull any closer. 

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.