GRAY DEYOSports Writer

With two players in boots on the bench and one with a pair of crutches, the short-handed Wildcats managed to hold off Lincoln County and win their seventh game in a row—62-51.

Lukas Price, Alex Miller, and senior guard Keegan Taylor were all out with foot injuries Friday night for the Wildcats. Taylor and Price have both been out for extended time with their ailments, but Miller’s is new. The injury came sometime after his clutch pair of free throws that helped the Wildcats win in their game before their battle against Lincoln County, in their 67-62 win over Rockvale.

With Khani Johnson also unavailable, with his appearance in the TACA East and West All-Star Game, players were forced to step up against a gritty Lincoln County group.

Junior Wildcats, Sam Bobo and Alex Tinnon answered the call, both scoring season highs—-each finishing with nine points.

Bobo got all of his nine from behind the arc striking in three three-pointers. He fits like a glove in the system head coach of Tullahoma, Jason Welch, wants to run. He keeps the ball moving, is ready to shoot when needed, and is an overall solid wing defender.

 The big man Tinnon continues to find his footing. His defense seems to improve every game, as he has become a brilliant shot blocker. He knows now when just to contest a shot and now knows when he needs to get a hand on a shot attempt. Along with his improvements on defense have come improvements with his offensive game. He has become a great offensive rebounder and is starting to go up and finish shots at the block through traffic and contact. Earlier in the year in these scenarios he often turned around and passed out of these looks.

The two third-year players for coach Welch were integral in their win over Rockvale, and of course, so was the team’s season leading scorer—Xavier Farrell. Farrell stepped up for the short-supplied Wildcats, scoring a game-high 25 points. Tullahoma trailed Lincoln Co. 46-44 at the end of the third, and that’s when Farrell took his game up a couple notches.

The senior standout scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter—where the Wildcats went on to outscore the Patriots 18-5 in the period. The collective defense from Farrell and the other four Wildcats lined up beside him forced tough looks for the Falcons throughout the final eight minutes.

Their gritty effort on the defensive side held Lincoln to a lone three in the fourth, which they relied on heavily in the previous three quarters—-making eight in the first three periods.

The Wildcats despite the unideal hand they were dealt, willed their way to another victory. They will look to extend their whooping win streak of seven to eight, when they take on Shelbyville on Dec.17.