Trey Johnson (3) and the Cosby Eagles faced Pickett County in a TSSAA Class A state quarterfinal at Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. The Bobcats won 63-56. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — As Trey Johnson, a Class A Mr. Basketball finalist and arguably the best player in Cosby history, walked off the Murphy Center court Wednesday afternoon to conclude his prep career, the Eagles faithful huddled around the exit tunnel and showered him with a cascade of applause.
The 6-foot-3 senior guard had delighted them with years’ worth of highlight dunks, 3-pointers and game-winning plays.
Though the end didn’t go as Johnson nor Cosby planned, the moment for Johnson was a deserved one.
“I can’t say enough about our fans. Wherever we go, they’re with us,” said Johnson. “They give us so much support and so much motivation to go out there and win.”
But there was no win had Wednesday.
Johnson scored 14 points and sophomore point guard Hayden Green 15, but Cosby couldn’t get its first state-tournament win since 2000, falling 63-56 to Pickett County.
“(Pickett County) did a really good job defending me,” said Johnson. “It’s frustrating to come down here and lose one game. We obviously wanted to make it as far as we can.
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“They did a really good job containing me and not letting me to get to the rim as easily as I do in other games.”
Cosby (15-14) trailed by three after halftime, but didn’t seem fazed by the state tournament atmosphere. The Eagles had played a brutally tough schedule — that featured the likes of Knoxville Catholic, Greeneville and Morristown East — so a modest 3-point deficit wasn’t anything to get them rattled.
Pickett County (22-8), however, began pulling away in the third quarter. The Bobcats went 4-for-4 from the perimeter in the third quarter. Will Amonett made three of those.
Cosby didn’t close up shop. Green popped in a 3 with 1 minute, 30 seconds to go in the third to trim the deficit to 46-44.
And then 6-foot-7 Cosby post Riley Galler tied the game at 47 on a three-point play at the 5:19 mark in the fourth.
“I thought it was going to go towards us, whenever I hit that,” said Galler, who finished with 13 points and nine boards.
“I knew I had to score because they didn’t have anybody close to my size,” he added. “I knew that’s how we were going to win.”
But the threes kept falling against Cosby.
Zach Amonett’s 3 with 3:30 to play pushed the Pickett County lead to 52-47. Will Amonett added another some 44 seconds later for a 55-49 lead. The two Amonetts accounted for 46 points Wednesday.
Cosby got as close as six points in the final minute but couldn’t force the turnover or get the 3-pointer needed to create a comeback.
Pickett County finished 7-for-12 at the arc and out-rebounded the larger Eagles, 36-27.
Cosby went 4-for-15 from the 3-point line, led by Green’s 3-for-3 performance. Johnson was 0-for-7.
“They shoot the ball well. I thought they broke us down (defensive) off the bounce a little more than we thought they might. They were tough to keep from the rim,” said Cosby surrogate coach Cody Lowe, the school’s girls’ basketball coach who filled in for Kurt Brooks. Brooks was ejected for disputing with an official in the Region 1-A championship, causing him to miss two games (sectional, state first round).
“Once they got deep, they did a really good job of finding the shooters (to kick the ball out to).”
The Eagles didn’t really concentrate on establishing their 3s early. They knew they had a size advantage in the paint and exploited that.
Cosby’s Galler took advantage of the size discrepancy in the first half — while he could. The senior had six points and five rounds through the first nine minutes for the Eagles.
But when he got whistled for his second foul, he was relegated to the bench to ensure his presence in the second half.
Cosby led 13-12 at the time of his departure but Pickett County took a 32-29 lead in the break, out-rebounding Cosby 22-14 through two quarters.
Johnson led all Cosby scorers in the first half with eight on 3-for-10 shooting (0-for-4 on 3s).
“We did some uncharacteristic things we had done the past month,” said Lowe. “I though Pickett County outplayed us at times, especially in the first half. And at times in the second half, in terms of giving up offensive rebounds.
“You hate for that to happen at this stage.”
5STAR PHOTOS pres. by FCA: Cosby Eagles basketball vs. Pickett County (2021 Class A quarterfinals)