Basketball Recap: Cookeville Falls Short Against Ranked Lebanon

On Monday, Cookeville faced Lebanon in a battle between two of the state's top teams. The Cookeville Cavaliers were just a bucket shy of victory and fell 45-44 to the Lebanon Blue Devils. Unfortunately, that's the third time they've come up short against the Blue Devils this season, with their most recent loss being a 67-58 defeat back in February.

Lebanon's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Naleiya Withrow-Walker led the charge by going 5-for-12 en route to 13 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Samia Payne, who posted eight points.

Cookeville's defeat was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 20-7. As for Lebanon, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 14 of their last 15 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 22-6 record this season.

Cookeville wasted no time getting back out on the court and has already played their next game, a 66-42 win against Oakland on the 28th. As for Lebanon, they also didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 77-29 victory against Riverdale on the 28th.