The Cumberland County High School basketball teams are off to a bad start in 2009, after dropping a pair of non-district games at Cookeville Saturday night. The Lady Jets were beaten 38-29 by the Lady Cavs, while the Jets were defeated 70-49.

Cookeville 38, Lady Jets 29: After finishing 2-1 in the Midway Holiday Classic earlier in the week, the Lady Jets opened the second half of the year with a visit to long-rival Cookeville and came home on the short end of the scoreboard.

Erin Helton did most of the damage for the Lady Cavaliers, tallying 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Mandy Moss paced CCHS with nine points, three rebounds and four steals, while Taylor Williams added seven markers with five caroms and two assists, and Kelli Hyder chipped in seven points, three boards, one assist and one steal.

Helton helped the Lady Cavs take a 9-7 first-quarter lead, scoring six of her team’s points with six rebounds. Cookeville was four of 15 from the field, while the Lady Jets were three of nine, including one of three from long range.

CCHS tied the game 14-14 at the break, despite shooting three of 11 from the floor. Beth Ann Swafford banked a trey off the top of the glass to spark the Lady Jets. Moss and Hyder had two points each.

Cumberland County took a 25-24 lead after three quarters, while hitting four of 11 from the field with three turnovers. Moss had four points for the Lady Jets.

The Lady Cavaliers opened the final stanza with a 6-0 run to take a 30-25 advantage to force the Lady Jets into slowing the tempo of the game. Cookeville finished the game with an 8-4 run for the final margin.

CCHS was one of nine from the floor in the final stanza.

Cookeville 70, Jets 49: The Jets, coming off a 2-2 trip to Carbondale, IL, couldn’t buy a basket in the game against the Cavs. CCHS was 19 of 52 with 18 turnovers, while Cookeville was 26 of 52 with eight miscues.

Judah Akers paced the Cavs with 23 points, and Kyle Wylie added 16 markers.

Jeremy Jacobs, Derrek Hankins and Andrew Cravens sparked CCHS with 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively.

CCHS led 8-5 with two minutes left in the first quarter, but two free throws by Blake Houston triggered a 10-3 run to take a 15-11 lead at the end of the quarter. CCHS was three of 10 from the field with nine turnovers, while Cookeville was five of 13 with four mistakes.

The lid remained on the basket for the Jets in the second quarter, as they were three of 14 from the field and one for four from the charity stripe to trail 28-19 at the break. Brandon Cole and Hankins each had three points for the CCHS.

Akers had nine for the Cavs, who were four of eight from the floor.

Cumberland County used an 11-7 run to slice the deficit t 35-30 midway through the third quarter, but a lay-up by Taylor Henningan, son of former Tech football coach Mike Henningan, triggered a 15-2 explosion take a 50-32 advantage by quarter’s end.

The Jets were five of 13 from the field with five turnovers.

Cookeville outscored CCHS 20-17 in the final quarter for the final margin. CCHS was seven of 13 from the floor with four turnovers in the final stanza.

Junior varsity action: Both CCHS junior varsity teams were beaten by Cookeville Saturday night.

The Lady Cavs edged CCHS 35-32. Leading scorers for CCHS were Loren Smith (3), Lauren Sliger (3), Jamie Rector (5), Hannah Deck (8) and Emily Scarbrough (13).

The Jets were beaten 45-40. Robbie Poore led CCHS with 18 points, followed by Matt Pennycuff (1), David Qualls (2), Cameron O’Rourke (3), John Bilbrey (5), Spencer Rogers (5), Kyle Pritchard (2), Steven Hill (2) and Ben Gudet (2).

Schedule: After the CCHS freshmen and junior varsity teams hosted Stone Memorial Monday night, the varsity teams will host SMHS tonight beginning at 6. The varsity teams travel to Walker Valley on Friday for a big District 5AAA double-header.