Sports

Book plays big in close loss

It’s rare to get to see two teams fight it out for all four quarters but if you were a fan attending Monday night’s game at Jefferson County you were lucky enough to witness a nail-biter.
Jefferson County (3-8, 2-3) hosted Sevier County (3-13, 1-4) in an exciting game that came down literally to the final second of the game.
The game was scoreless until there was a minute and a half left in the first quarter when both teams put four points on the board. Neither the Smoky Bears nor the Patriots could get a shot to fall. Jefferson County had several turnovers but the Smoky Bears could not convert on the other end.
Some basketball was actually played in the second period. It almost seemed as though two different teams had come back on to the court. The Patriots added 12 points to their total to take a lead going into halftime to give them a one point advantage over Sevier County who put up an 11 point showing in the quarter.
The Patriots scored on three’s and free throws in the third quarter. Shane Acuff of Jefferson County hit on four of four freebies to give the Patriots a five-point cushion going into the fourth.
Sevier County showed as always that they would not lie down and let another team roll over them. The Smoky Bears got another huge performance from Brett Book who hit four of his five 3-pointers in the fourth. Book took over as leader on the court and brought Sevier County back within one point after trading three’s back and forth with Jefferson County’s Jason Deering. Deering put 11 points on the board for the Patriots connecting on two 3-point shots to let the Smoky Bears know that they were still there.
Making up for a five-point difference at the beginning of the period, Sevier County scored 20 points in the fourth quarter and tied the game up at 42 with only a few seconds left in the game. After the Smoky Bears scored what looked to be the final basket in regulation, the Patriots hurried the ball down court and drew a foul as Steven Solomon went up for a lay-up with 1.8 seconds left. Solomon would hit his first three throw to put Jefferson County ahead by one point. On his next free one, he spiked the ball off of the backboard. The Smoky Bears would get the rebound but a 90-foot shot was only what it seemed. A prayer.
Jefferson County got away with a close win in an exciting game by the score of 43-42.
Jason Deering led the Patriots in scoring with 15 points in the game with 11 of those points coming in the dramatic fourth quarter.
Brett Book of Sevier County put up another courageous effort that should not go unheard. Book scored 19 points in the losing effort with 12 of his points coming from four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as well.
Sevier County was swept on Monday night as the girls (7-10, 3-4) fell to the #9 Jefferson County Lady Patriots (16-2, 4-1) 61-46.
Both the girls and boys of Sevier County have a tough task ahead of them as they travel to Heritage next week to take on the Mountaineers. The Lady Mountaineers (18-2, 7-0) are ranked #3 and beat the Lady Smoky Bears last time 70-44.
The Smoky Bears also lost in their last meeting with Heritage’s boys 65-52.