Pilots advance to 1st District Championship

Fulton Co. 65

Hickman Co. 58

In a game that was a back-and-forth affair from start to finish, the Fulton County Pilots were able to hold off the Hickman County Falcons March 13 and advance to the First District championship game.

After one quarter of action, the Pilots led 17-13, but the Falcons were able to even things back up at 36 a piece at halftime.

Fulton County was able to build a 48-43 lead with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter, but back-to-back threes by the Falcons gave them the lead back. A free-throw and a basket just before time ran out to end the third quarter allowed the Pilots to regain the lead and take a 51-49 lead heading into the final quarter.

With 2:11 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Pilots clinging to a 59-58 lead, Fulton County Coach Hood called a timeout. The Pilots were able to execute out of the timeout and DiAvian Bradley beat his defender one-on-one and score over him to give the Pilots a three point lead.

Entering the final minute of play, the Pilots still lead by three, and were able to force a turnover and get a break-away lay-up to go up five. A couple of free throws iced the victory and the Pilots were on to the championship game against the Carlisle County Comets March 16 at 6:30 p.m.

Josh Cole had a team-high 24 points, followed by DK Gossett with 12, Hayden Murphy with 10, Wesley Brown with six, Broc Bridges, Omarion Pierce and Bradley with four, and Chrisshawn Gordon with one.

Bridges led the Pilots with nine rebounds, followed by Murphy with five, Bradley with four, Brown and Pierce with three each, and Gossett, Cole, Gordon and Corey Manus with two each.

St. Mary’s 60

Fulton Co. 30

In the final game of the regular season, the Pilots struggled scoring the basketball, making only nine of 43 field goal attempts, including 0-of-13 from behind the three-point line. They were also 12-of-22 from the free-throw line.

DiAvian Bradley led the Pilots in scoring with eight, followed by Chrisshawn Gordon with five, DK Gossett, Hayden Murphy and Broc Bridges with four each, Josh Cole with, and Corey Manus and Omarion Pierce with one each.

Bradley and Bridges led the Pilots with five rebounds each, while Murphy grabbed four, Gossett, Manus and Gordon grabbed two each, and Cole, Pierce and Wesley Brown had one each.