District champs
Title nets Mavs first round bye in tourney
Cam Lawson takes a jump shot during Anderson County’s district win over Union County last Friday night. The win gave the Mavericks an 8-1 district record. (photo:Ricky Williams )
The Mavericks clinched the District 4-AAA title with a 71-56 victory over Union County Friday night at home. It was their first league title in 16 years.
Anderson County won the district tournament last season as the No. 3 seed in a four-team district,
The league expanded to six teams this year. Knoxville Halls departed as it was re-classified to Class 4A. But Gibbs, Union County and Cumberland Gap joined the fray with Clinton, the Mavericks and Scott.
The league title nets ACHS (16-1 overall, 8-1 in the district) a first-round bye in the upcoming district tournament and an automatic berth into the Region 2-AAA tournament.
The Mavericks have the spoils of a title in hand, but second-year head Coach Jordan Jeffers is looking for a bit more.
“We’re in a much better place than we were at this time last year,” Jeffers said. “We played OK last week, but we weren’t great. We were OK against Union. We weren’t great, but a lot of credit for that goes to them because they’re good.
Despite not appearing all that content with his squad’s latest effort, Jeffers praised his team.
“This team is really fun to coach,” he said.
The Mavericks boasted a balanced offensive attack against the Patriots.
Brandon Dake scored 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds.
Cole Russell added 14 points, while Daylen Cole scored 12 points, grabbed five boards and dished out three assists against the Patriots.
After opening the week with a big win over Scott at home on Monday, Jan. 29, ACHS routed Cumberland Gap the following night, notching an 80-38 win.
Hayden Craig had 13 points and five rebounds against the Panthers, while Dake and Lincoln Tummell scored 10 points apiece.
Clinton hosted Anderson County Tuesday night, but results were not available at press time.