Even though the Cocke County Fighting Cocks scored an imposing 61 points on Saturday, the Morristown-Hamblen East Hurricanes still came out on top. Morristown-Hamblen East took their match against the Fighting Cocks 69-61. Given Morristown-Hamblen East's advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 25th, while the Fighting Cocks are ranked 231st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Morristown-Hamblen East's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Kyle Cloninger led the charge by scoring 15 points along with five assists and five rebounds. Cloninger hasn't dropped below 15 points for 26 straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Cory Carpenter, who scored 14 points along with three steals.
When it comes to explaining why Cocke County lost, one person who can't be blamed is Kyler Hayes. Despite the final result, he dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Raeshon Palmer was another key contributor, scoring 14 points along with seven rebounds.
Even though they lost, Cocke County were working as a unit and finished the game with 11 assists. This was only their 14th loss (out of 22 games) when they've passed the ball that well.
Morristown-Hamblen East has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine contests, which provided a nice bump to their 21-6 record this season. As for Cocke County, they are on a three-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 9-16.
Both teams will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Morristown-Hamblen East and the Smoky Bears will face off at 7:30 p.m. on February 6th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Sevier County will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak. As for Cocke County, they will head out on the road to square off against the Eagles at 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday. One thing working in Cosby's favor is that they have posted big point totals in their last three games.
