Less than twenty-four hours after a 13th-District loss to Russellville, the Todd County Central girls’ basketball team put a three-game losing run behind them and celebrated Senior Day in style with a 45-31 victory over visiting Cumberland County.
The Lady Rebels had yielded 60 points in each of their last two losses, but they put the defensive clamps on the Lady Panthers from the opening whistle.
After Danielle Cooper gave Cumberland County a 2-0 lead, Todd Central answered with a 12-0 run, including 8 points combined by Lucy Chester and Alexis Taylor, to take a 10-point cushion into the second quarter.
Cumberland County responded with an 8-2 spurt, capped by a 3-pointer by Kaylen Franklin, to trim the lead to four. Chester took over for the final two minutes of the half, hitting one of two free throws and scoring in the lane twice to give the Lady Rebels a 19-10 advantage at the half.
Caity Patterson knocked down a pair of third-quarter 3-pointers, with the second pulling Cumberland County to within a point at 21-20 with 2:46 left in the frame. Chester answered with an and-1, followed by layups by Taylor and Ciara Collins, to give the Lady Rebels a 28-20 edge with a quarter to play.
Todd Central led by 8 with 5:12 to play, before Taylor was called for a walk, and a technical foul was assessed to the Lady Rebel bench, with Cumberland’s Patterson hitting a pair of free throws and Danielle Cooper splashing a 3 to trim the margin to three.
The Lady Rebels answered with a 14-3 run to close the game, with Jamaia Coleman scoring 6 points and Chester and Williams combining for 8, to put the game away.
Chester led all scorers with 18, followed by Taylor with 11. Patterson led Cumberland County with 11.
Cumberland County 2 8 10 11 — 31
Todd County Central 12 7 9 17 — 45
Cumberland County (0-4) — Patterson 11, Morgan 7, Cooper 6, Franklin 3, Craft 2, Nettles 2
Todd County Central (3-3) — Chester 18, Taylor 11, Williams 6, Coleman 6, Collins 4