The Pineville boys basketball team looked overmatched during Monday’s clash with Bell County. The Bobcats’ size and experience was on full display as Bell County rolled past the Mountain Lions 64-31 to earn their fourth straight victory.

The Bell County seniors got a chance to shine with each one playing substantial minutes. Isaac Collett paced the team with 14 points while hitting four 3-pointers. Tyler Partin finished the game with six points.

“I’m very happy that our seniors really got a chance to play tonight and actually get some points and have a chance to get some serious runs. I thought they played great tonight,” said Bobcat coach Frankie Smith. “The seniors started out tonight, and they set the pace. They started off 16-1. We never really looked back from there to tell you the truth. I thought we took care of the ball (and) I thought we made some good decisions tonight.”

Two seniors that took advantage of their opportunity were Drake Thomas and Bayler Lefevers. Thomas ended the night with 13 points. Lefevers hit two 3-pointers on his way to an eight-point outing.

“We’ve always known that Bayler could hit some open shots. We found that out this summer. Bayler was great tonight,” said Smith. “Drake has been steadily getting used to our program and has been getting more minutes game after game. He has really been understanding the way we want to play. He is unselfish. He’s not worried about trying to get his own.

“We’re already used to what Tyler and Isaac can do. My heart starts bleeding when I think about Sawyer Brock — to have his senior year cut so short with his ACL. It would’ve been nice if he could’ve played tonight, but his presence here was awesome.”

Nothing could go right for Pineville offensively. The Lions didn’t reach double digits until right before the half.

One of the lone bright spots for Pineville was Clay Goodin. The junior guard scored a game-high 15 points with nine points coming in the third quarter. No other Mountain Lion registered more than a single field goal with Hayden Callebs ending the night with 5 points.

“(Bell) is a really tough team. They’ve got people that can score the ball really well,” said Pineville coach James David Strange. “Our game plan was to try to not let (Isaac Collett) get going. I know he got loose a few times, and he really made us pay the times that he did get loose.

“Overall, I think our kids really tried to follow the game plan. I felt like our kids kept fighting hard. This is obviously a game they really wanted to play. I’m proud of their effort all the way through.”

From the opening tip, Bell County was in control of the game. Lefevers opened the first with a 3-pointer that sparked a 16-1 run. Goodin stopped the bleeding with a put-back basket, but Lefevers hit a jumper to give the Bobcats an 18-3 lead heading into the second.

Ben Goodin opened the second with a layup to narrow the deficit to 18-5, but a London Stephney free throw started an 8-0 run that ballooned the Bell County lead to 26-5 with over three minutes to play in the half.

The Bobcats outscored Pineville 8-6 in the remaining minutes to give Bell a 34-11 lead heading into halftime.

Things didn’t change much in the second half with the Bobcats outscoring the Lions 32-20 to secure the 33-point victory.

Up Next

Bell County (17-10) will host Clay County (20-6) at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Pineville (9-17) hosted Red Bird (8-18) on Tuesday.