By Shane Shackleford
Sports Writer

The Pineville Mountain Lions seem to be hitting their stride at the right moment.
The Lions won the consolation bracket of the Smoky Mountain Christmas Classic, defeating Lanier Christian Academy 78-66 to finish the tournament 2-1 heading into Christmas.
The 4-3 Lions were led by their senior trio of Sawyer Thompson with 30 points, Ashton Moser with 23, and Cameron Puckett’s 11.
Junior guard Mekhi Barber poured in 35 for the 11-4 Lightning.
The Lions opened the tournament with a close loss to Alabama power Briarwood Christian 72-69. Thompson had 22, Moser had 20, and Puckett tossed in 12. Drew Mears led BCA with 25 points.
In the second round, Pineville bounced back with a 69-59 victory over Estill County. Moser came up big for Pineville with a 32-point outburst. Thompson scored 15.
Niece scored 22 for the Engineers. Chaney had 16, and Becker had 14.
The Lions will look to continue their run this week at their Chain Rock Classic. The Lions play Claiborne in the first round Tuesday night at 7 pm.

Pineville (69) — Thompson 22, Moser 20, Zachery 8, Puckett 12, Robbins 3, Abner 4.
Briarwood Christian (72) — Mears 25, Click 2, Stubbs 8, Caldwell 5, Smith 5, Leib 3, Robertson 12, Witherington 9.
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Pineville (69) — Thompson 15, Moser 32, Zachery 6, Puckett 8, Robbins 4, Kyle 2, Abner 2.
Estill County (59) — Chaney 16, Becker 14, Niece 22, Rose 1, Bringegar 2, Shepherd 3.
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Pineville (78) — Thompson 30, Moser 23, Zachery 6, Puckett 11, Robbins 4, Abner 4.
Lanier Christian (66) — Tracy 2, X. Barber 14, Tracy 2, Batusic 2, M. Barber 35, Batusic 7, Martin 2, Gerard 3.
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The Clay County Tigers defeated the Pineville Mountain Lions 86-74 in a matchup of 13th Region contenders.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 24-12 advantage after one period. The Lions were able to cauterize the bleeding some to make the halftime score 44-31 Clay.
Pineville had a big third quarter behind eight points each from Sawyer Thompson and Ashton Moser to get within one at 56-55 after three quarters. However, the Tigers got hot in the fourth quarter and pulled away.
Pineville was led by Thompson with 28 and Moser with 24. Clay was led by Aiden Wagers with 26. Ethan Jackson followed with 25. Adon Grubb had 17, while Landon Dezarn added 14.
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Clay County (86) — Adon Grubb 17, Landon Dezarn 14, Ethan Jackson 25, Aiden Wagers 26, Isaiah Bundy 4.
Pineville 74) — Sawyer Thompson 28, Ashton Moser 24, Preston Zachery 7, Cameron Puckett 5, Kaiden Robbins 2, Sebastian Kyle 2, Dylan Abner 4, Jacob Hartmann 2.