Cornett's Game-Winner Lifts Council

BY LLOYD COMBS
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
COUNCIL, Va. – Stephanie Cornett was having a so-so night until the game clock struck zero.

Cornett’s putback at the buzzer lifted Council to a dramatic, 48-47 win over Twin Valley on Friday night.

The win kept the Lady Cobras (17-2, 5-0) in sole possession of first place in the Black Diamond District. The final shot made up for a below average night for Cornett, whose hot hand tallied 76 points in her previous three games, including two 20-point second-half efforts in wins over Honaker and Ervinton.

She missed six of nine shots from the floor Friday before putting back a miss inside by Allison Presley to give Council its ninth straight win.

“We messed up. The last play didn’t work out the way it was supposed to,” Cornett explained.

“Ali [Presley] got open, and when her shot came off the rim I was just in the right place at the right time.

“You dream about hitting a shot at the buzzer to win a game for your team, but there aren’t words to describe how good it feels.”

Cornett finished with 13 points. Katie Jo Lester matched that with 13 points to go with 10 rebounds for Twin Valley (11-8, 2-3).

The Lady Panthers opened the game on an 11-2 run as Council misfired on 10 of its first 11 shots. Dakota Bostic contributed 12 points and five assists for the Lady Cobras, who trailed the entire game until a 3-pointer by Katie Thomas gave Council a 39-38 advantage in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

“That was a big shot by Katie,” Council coach Ben Jackson said. “Dakota and Kelsey [Geary] both hit some big shots for us in the second half.

“We turned things around when we started getting the ball inside. Steph and Dakota started taking the ball to the hole and Kelsey and Ali decided to work together [in the post].”

Lester broke a 44-44 tie with a three-point play to give Twin Valley the lead with 2:18 remaining. A bucket inside by Presley got Council within 47-46 with 1:53 left. Neither team scored again until Cornett’s game-winner. The Lady Panthers missed the front end of a one-and-one with 16.4 seconds remaining.

It was Council’s third win in as many tries over the Lady Panthers.

There were four lead changes in the fourth quarter.

TWIN VALLEY (47)
Gilbert 3 0-0 8, Horn 4 1-2 9, Ratliff 1 0-0 2, Wimmer 3
0-1 7, S. Mullins 3 0-0 8, Lester 4 4-5 13, M. Mullins 0 0-0 0,
Goodman 0 0-0 0. Totals -- 18 5-8 47.
COUNCIL (48)
D. Bostic 5 1-2 12, Arrington 2 0-0 4, Cornett 4 3-4 13, Geary 3
0-0 6, Thomas 2 0-0 5, Hurley 1 0-0 2, Presley 3 0-0 6. Totals -- 20
4-6 48.
Twin Valley 13 15 10 9--47
Council 5 19 12 12--48
3-point goals-TV 6 (Gilbert 2, S. Mullins 2, Wimmer, Lester),
Council 4 (Cornett 2, Bostic, Thomas). Total fouls-TV 11, Council 9.
Fouled out-none.

Twin Valley 74 Council 48

Twin Valley had three scoring runs of 10 points or more and turned Friday’s nightcap into a rout in the second half. The eighth-ranked Panthers (16-3, 5-0) also held the BDD’s leading scorer, Otto Fletcher, to five points, while staying unbeaten in district play.

Garrett Horne hit five straight shots from the floor in the first half and four in a row in the second half. The senior point guard scored 12 points in each half and finished with 24 points and four assists.

Hunter Simpson added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Josh Smith added 11 boards and eight points for Twin Valley.

Adam Keen scored 10 points and hauled in eight rebounds. Chris Tiller hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points, while Shane Presley tossed in 11 points for Council (11-8, 3-2).

Twin Valley scored 18 unanswered points midway through the second half to take a 67-42 lead. The victory gives the Panthers a two-game lead in the BDD standings with three games remaining.

TWIN VALLEY (74)
B. Viers 0 1-3 1, Burniston 1 0-0 3, Shortridge 2 2-2 7, Miller 0
0-0 0, Horne 11 0-0 24, Turner 0 0-0 0, St. Clair 0
1-2 1, Smith 3 2-4 8, Adams 2 2-2 6, Hughes 0 0-0 0, Simpson
4 4-4 15, Keen 5 0-0 10. Totals – 28 12-17 74.
COUNCIL (48)
T. Viers 2 0-0 6, I. Viers 2 2-4 7, Presley 5 1-4 11, Boyd 2 0-0 5,
Fletcher 2 1-2 5, Gilbert 0 0-2 0, Tiller 5 0-0 14, Obermeyer 0 0-0 0.
Totals -- 18 4-10 48.
Twin Valley 15 19 19 21--74
Council 10 15 17 6--48
3-point goals-TV 7 (Simpson 3, Horne 2, Burniston, Shortridge),
Council 8 (Tiller 4, T. Viers 2, I. Viers, Boyd). Total fouls-TV 17,
Council 19. Fouled out-Presley.