Riding a five-game winning streak ahead of Thursday’s semifinal matchup with the hosts at the Rhea County Christmas Classic, the Trigg County boys’ basketball team lost for the first time in over two weeks with a 67-46 setback to the 18-2 Golden Eagles.
Trigg will return on Friday to face Beech, TN in the 3rd-place game. Beech sits at 12-3 after a 55-42 loss to Bearden in Thursday’s semifinal.
Kyler Akin and Bryce Dupre combined for 11 first-quarter points to lead Rhea County to an early 16-9 advantage. Davaree Gude had all but three points for Trigg over the opening eight minutes.
Gude added five more in the second quarter, but the Wildcats were outscored 17-10 behind seven more points for Dupre for a 33-19 Rhea County lead at halftime.
Rhea County continued to build the lead after the break with Akin scoring seven in the third and Caleb Carr adding six. The Golden Eagles took a 22-point cushion into the final frame.
8th-grader Timmy Williams provided a spark with nine points in the fourth for the Wildcats, but Akin posted seven to finish with a game-high 23 points for the Golden Eagles.
Gude scored 11 of his team-high 13 in the first half. Williams was the only other Wildcat in double figures with ten.
Trigg County 9 10 13 14 — 46
Rhea County 16 17 21 13 — 67
Trigg County (6-5) — Gude 13, Williams 10, Shearer 7, Vaughn 6, Stewart 5, Bridges 3, Carter 2
Rhea County (18-2) — Akin 23, Dupre 16, Carr 14, Smith 6, Geer 4, Logsdon 4
