Claiborne High School hosted Gibbs, December 1, for three games of basketball starting with the boy’s junior varsity contest.
Gibbs took an early lead and Claiborne tried to rally. After one period of play Claiborne was down 15-8. The young Bulldogs inched back into the game and with just over two minutes left in the first half were down by only two. At the half the score was 29-29. Jake Smith led the Bulldogs at the half with 13. CJ Cox and Cole Holt both had eight.
Claiborne jumped ahead in the third and going into the final period led 43-32. Claiborne withstood a late three-point charge from Gibbs to win 64-52. Leading Claiborne in scoring was Jake Smith with 23 and Cole Holt had 19. CJ Cox had 14, and three others scored two points including Kaden Lovin, Drew Epperson and Hunter Greer. Gibbs was led in scoring by Jayden Rutherford with 21 points. Dajuan Harris had 10.
The first of two varsity games featured the girls. Claiborne was fresh off a come from behind win at Union County and were looking to place another check mark in the win column. Emma Myatt started the scoring off for the Lady Bulldogs followed by two free throws from Jordan Fultz. The game remained tied at four for nearly two minutes before Gibbs took a two-point lead. Gibbs hit a three and then Hannah Fugate was tossed to the ground, but somehow it was Fugate who was called for the foul. After one period Gibbs led 9-6. Myatt knocked down two free throws to start the second period and hit a layup to give her team a one-point lead 10-9 and then knocked down a three. With 4:36 remaining in the first half Gibbs had retaken the lead at 15-13. Myatt’s outstanding second period continued with another three. Ily Bussell scored on a layup and with three minutes left Claiborne led 18-15. Bussell and Jones made free throws before Hannah Fugate hit a shot and got the harm. Fugate missed the free throw and the Lady Eagles were unable to capitalize on their next trip; however, they did hit a three with seconds left for the last points of the half. Claiborne led 24-21 at the half.
Claiborne extended their lead to nine just after the second half had started, 30-21. Defensive pressure allowed the Lady Bulldogs some easy baskets and trips to the stripe. They quickly moved out front by 13 before Gibbs ended their scoring drought at 34-23. Fultz and Jones kept the scoreboard busy while Fugate and Pressnell added tough defensive pressure. At the end of three periods Claiborne led 44-31. An Addie Brooks dish to Fugate down low started the fourth period scoring for the Lady Bulldogs. Pressnell added a point from the stripe and Jones followed it up with a basket. Fultz played well down low and put back a few misses near the middle of the period and the Bulldogs defense stayed stingy. Channing Buis found the basket around the three-minute mark for her first points and Claiborne led by 20 at 60-40. Genesis Bailey added two on a run out and with 34 seconds left the score was 62-42. Gibbs added two more and the game ended 62-44. Myatt led Claiborne with 16, Jones had 13, Fugate had 10. Jordan Fultz had eight, Bussell had six, Pressnell had five, Bailey had two as did Buis. Gibbs was led by Dakotah Large with 13. Breanna Taylor also had double figures with 11. The Heartland Real Estate Player of the game was Emma Myatt. Congratulations Emma!
The final game featured the varsity Bulldogs and the Eagles. Claiborne nearly scored 80 last game against Union County and still lost. They were hoping to keep the scoring up and record a victory. Brennan Fugate got the scoring started with two free throws for Claiborne and Brady Hamlin knocked down back-to-back threes. Ethan Cupp hit a shot in the paint and completed the and-one. Claiborne pulled away but miscues on the offensive end allowed the Eagles to get back in the game. After one period Claiborne held a three-point lead at 17-14. The first seven points of the second period were all Gibbs, 21-17. Cupp scored from the free throw line, but Gibbs hit the next five points, 26-18. Coach McGinnis called a timeout to settle his team down at the 5:35 mark. Gibbs was issued a technical foul at 5:18 that fired the CHS crowd up. After the free throws and another basket, the Bulldogs were down by only four at 26-22. Gibbs was the faster team during the second period and ran off to a 36-22 advantage, but Claiborne broke the run with back-to-back threes by Myatt. Cupp added two from the stripe and by the halftime buzzer Claiborne was within 10 at 40-30. Cupp led CHS at the half with 12. The CHS Cheer Team performed their routine at the half.
Coming out of the break, Claiborne opened up with an Ethan Short three. Gibbs answered with back-to-back baskets. Cupp and Fugate worked hard to keep Claiborne scoring during the middle of the third, but Gibbs was finding the open man slashing to the rim. They led 52-41 at the three-minute mark and finished the period ahead by 10 at 58-48. Myatt hit the first shot of the final period, but Gibbs answered. With 6:39 remaining Cupp got loose and got fouled while slamming one in, but the basket was called no good by the officials as they decided he hung on to the rim. Cupp instead went to the free throw line and hit one of two. Gibbs then went on a run giving them a 66-53 advantage. The crowd was still reeling after the call on the dunk as Fugate hit a three making it 66-58. Gibbs went on to win the game 80-65. Cupp led the Bulldogs in scoring with 27 and Myatt had 13 with Fugate scoring 11. Hamlin finished with eight and Short along with Cole Holt had three. Braden Graves scored 28 for Gibbs and Bryson Palmer had 18. Zack Turner had 14 and Bryson Walker finished with 10.
The Danny England Motors Player of the Game was Ethan Cupp. Congratulations Ethan!
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