Cougars Split at Kenwood

It was a tough split for the Dickson County High School basketball teams on Friday night. The Lady Cougars held off a physical Kenwood team 63-51, while the hard-charging Kenwood Knights just outlasted the Cougars 52-50. Kenwood led by 10 in the closing minutes at home, but the Cougars very nearly pulled off a huge comeback.

The Lady Cougars fought nip and tuck with a talented Kenwood squad that had upset the Lady Cougars in the earlier match in Dickson. However, Dickson County’s defense would prove to be the difference. Freshman and MVP Payton Grove played such frustrating defense against Lady Knights standout Blake Jenkines that the Kenwood coaching staff benched her for her “attitude,” according to sources. In Blake’s absence, Brooke Jenkines shone brightly with 20 points to keep the Lady Knights in the game. However, Grove had 19 points before fouling out in the 4th, helping Dickson County weather the storm of physicality. Kiwi Knox battled foul trouble and contributed 15 points at the other post, while Rachel Stanford had 13 as the Lady Cougars took one on the road with just two more games left.

The DCHS boys had a five point lead in the first quarter, but Kenwood executed a great game plan and took the lead from the Cougars. The game yo-yoed quite a bit, as Dickson County would close the gap and Kenwood would pull away again. The Cougars actually won three of the four quarters, but a 15-9 second quarter edge for Kenwood proved too much to overcome. The Knights led by 10 with about 5 minutes left in regulation and Dickson County trimmed the lead repeatedly with sound defense and sharp threes, but after the Cougars cut the lead to 52-50 with less than three seconds left, time simply ran out for the Cougars. MVP JeQuan Lewis led the way with a game high 20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals on the night, while Tyler Spicer added 9 points and 7 rebounds for DCHS.

On Monday afternoon, the Dickson Middle Lady Dragons open their Sectional Tournament (unofficial State Tournament) run, and you can hear all the action on the RFC Sports Network starting with pregame at 4pm from Stewarts Creek in Smyrna.