GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Tullahoma High School basketball team continues to win games. They are now on a seven-game win streak, defeating Lawrence County High School 66-34.

Tullahoma was the clear favorite prior to tipoff. Lawrence County, going into the bout, had a record of 3-14. Their team looks much different from a year ago, where Lawrence had a solid season, going 15-14 overall, and finishing fourth in the district with a record of 6-5. Them losing seven seniors, some of whom were big contributors, has been a big factor in their fall off in play this season.

Tullahoma, at their home gym against the struggling Lawrence team, wasted no time in building a lead. At the end of the first half, the Wildcats were already up by 13, leading 29-16. In these two quarters, the leading scorer for the Wildcats was senior guard Lukas Price. He had eight points in the half, mixing up scoring from the outside, in the paint, and the foul line.  Junior Peyton Behrendorff also stood out in helping contribute to the Wildcats first half advantage, lacing in two threes.

Tullahoma, in the second half, put forth another great defensive stand, holding Lawrence to just 18 points. During the Wildcats’ win streak, their defense has been a big thing they can lean on. Over this streak, this is the sixth time they have held a team under 50 points.

Offensively against Lawrence, the Wildcats had contributors from everywhere. They had 13 players log at least two points on the night, with eight of these players logging five or more points. These players were Peyton Behrendorff (6), Jackson Knight (6), Price Harden (7), Sam Bobo (10), Jayden Thompson (7), Lukas Price (8), Alex Miller (5), and Gage Allen (5).

This complementary basketball was enough to help improve the Wildcats’ overall record to 14-4.

With the Wildcats continuing to play well, they are continuing to get noticed. Following them being ranked fifth in the state by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association on their Jan. 12 poll of the class of 3A, in their newest poll, the Wildcats have now clawed their way up to the number two spot. The lone team ranked above them is the all too familiar Upperman High School. The squad Tullahoma lost to in the state championship last season currently has a record of 17-4. They are still led by their star from last year, now junior guard Ty Cobb. It is still way too early to tell if a rematch will happen this season between the two teams, but with how they are both performing it is certainly in the cards. If one were to take place, it could happen as early as the sectional tournament.