Missed layups and open shot opportunties can kill a basketball team. Just ask the Cannon County Lionettes after Friday night’s 70-67 District 8-AA loss to Smith County and they will tell you. After coming back from deficits of 11 points in the first half and 9 in the third quarter, the Lionettes seemed to have found a little bit of a rhythm and opened up a 7 point lead in the fourth quarter. No lead is ever safe until the final buzzer when it comes to ball games between these two teams. The Lionettes spread the floor open in order to get good clean shot looks and melt time off the clock. They got the shots they wanted in several layups however someone put a lid on the goal as none of them would drop in. Meanwhile Smith County would whittle away at the Lionette lead and ended up taking a lead of their own. The Lionettes had an opportunity to tie the game possibly sending it into overtime but the lid was on the goal during a key series of free throws and the Lionettes suffered a frustrating loss 70-67. Lady Owl phenom Callie Hackett scored 32 while Cannon placed 3 in double figures with Kelli Davis leading the way with 23. Kendra Maynard finished with 13 and Autumn King netted 15. The Lionettes head into a week full of basketball with a 8-2 record and 1-2 in district play. 32 must have been the magic number of the night as not only did the opposition have a player that scored 32 points in the girls game, the Cannon County Lions also had a 32 point scorer as the Lions once again made it look easy in their win against the Smith County Owls 84-60. Smith County using a small starting lineup was able to handle the full court press in the first quarter. But until a team can handle it an entire game, the Lions could keep on collecting easy wins. Smith County hung around until the second half trailing 38-30. Then once again turn on the highlight reel as Cannon made several noteworthy plays including another two handed slam dunk by Austin Martin. Josh Ruehlen who had 14 points in the first half turned it up on both ends of the floor making defensive plays and shooting lights out at 70 percent in the second half to finish with 32 points. Jacob Nave added 19. The Lions are now 8-2 and 3-0 in district play. Both Cannon County teams start some lengthy road trips over the next couple of weeks starting with Tuesday’s games in Jamestown against District opponent York Institute.
