The third time was not the charm for the DeKalb County Tigers as Cookeville pulled off the hat trick, beating the Tigers for a third time this season, topping DeKalb 63 to 53 Saturday.
The teams had become familiar with one another in the past weeks as the Tigers fell during their visit to Cookeville on Dec. 14 by a count of 76-65. They faced the Putnam County team again on Dec. 20 when the two met at the Aflac Christmas Tournament in Watertown. Cookeville got the best of that tilt also, winning 67-46.
Cookeville was on the Tigers quick Saturday during the matinee game. DeKalb found themselves on the short end of a 12-6 score within the first four minutes with Brayden Antoniak, coming from a recent injury, returning to the lineup to contribute four of those early points.
The Cavalier run brought even more separation as the first half continued with the guests expanding their lead to 16 with three points remaining in the first half. However, Dallas Cook was able to net six first half points to help pace his team back into contention. The deficit was cut to 30-18 with a minute remaining before the break. DeKalb was also able to gain a measure of momentum going into the half as Dakota White was fouled on the last play of the first half, sending him to the charity stripe where he was perfect, setting the score at 32-23 at the half.
Cookeville would again take DeKalb to task at the beginning of the third, expanding their lead up to 14 before the Tigers would again yo-yo the score thanks to a White three-pointer and an Elishah Ramos layup which set the score at 45-39 after three.
The Tigers would see several opportunities to reel in their guests but were unable to knock down the shots. Cookeville took advantage of their host’s offensive woes, running up their lead to 13 by the half-way mark of the final frame. White was able to connect from beyond the arc to close the deficit to 10 as the clock ticked under three minutes. Jordan Young would throw in a three with less than a minute left to get the score to single digits but that was as close as it got as Cookeville held on for the 10-point win.
White led his squad with 15 while Dallas Cook had 13. Bailey Gilliam led all scorers on the night, netting 18 for the Cavs. The loss puts the Tigers at 4-9 on the season.
