Tennessee suffered their biggest loss since February 17th on Thursday. They came up short against the Cocke County Fighting Cocks, falling 56-35. While losing is never fun, the Vikings can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee basketball rankings (they are ranked 139th, while the Fighting Cocks are ranked 40th).
Tennessee lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Jasiah Duff, who posted four points and three steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Jasmine Jones, who put up six points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
Cocke County found their leader in sophomore Karmine Carmichael, who went 9 of 15 on her way to 20 points in addition to eight boards and five steals. Carmichael is becoming a predictor of Cocke County's success: when she posts at least three steals the team is 6-1 (and 2-3 when she doesn't). Another player making a difference was Shakyra Reed, who had eight points.
Tennessee dropped their record down to 5-5 with the defeat, which was their fifth straight at home dating back to last season. As for Cocke County, the victory (which was their fourth in a row) raised their record to 8-4.
Tennessee didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next matchup, a 59-36 win against Volunteer on the 20th. As for Cocke County, they also wasted no time getting back out on the court and have already played their next game, a 57-40 victory against Abingdon on the 20th.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
