MONTICELLO-North Pike defeated Lawrence County 9-5 in Division 7-4A high school basketball action Friday night at Jimmie Davis Park. George Lott’s Jaguars jumped to a big early lead, then held off a determined Lawrence County comeback effort.

With the win, North Pike completed a home-and-home sweep of Lawrence County. The Jaguars improved to 7-2 overall, and 2-0 in division play. Lawrence County, coached by Cory Keyes, fell to 5-5 overall and 0-2 in the division.

Powered by a strong hitting attack, North Pike led LCHS 7-0 after 3 and 1/2 innings. With North Pike having already put a 10-run rule beating on Lawrence County on Tuesday, it looked as though Friday’s game would bring more of the same. However, the Cougars battled back gamely and got the potential tying run to the plate at the end of the game.

North Pike’s victory wasn’t secured until Jaguar second baseman Hayes Thompson made a diving grab of T-Tez Cole’s vicious line drive, with the bases loaded, in the bottom of the seventh. Lott, the winning coach, was gracious in his praise of Lawrence County’s comeback effort.

“This was a great ballgame,” Lott said. “I give all the credit in the world to Lawrence County. They’re down 7-0, and they end up getting the tying run to the plate. And then the game ended on the hardest hit ball of the night by either team.”

North Pike, after burning Lawrence County for 13 runs on 14 hits on Tuesday, started out Friday’s game in the same way, scoring 3 runs on 3 hits in the top of the first. Patrick Roberts’ RBI double was the biggest blow.

In the third, Jaguar first baseman Dallas Smith banged a 2-run homer to increase the margin to 5-0. In the fourth, another 2-run blast, this one by LD Coney, made it a 7-0 Jaguar lead.

Lawrence County refused to go quietly. In the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars chased North Pike starter Ben Coney, scoring 3 runs on 5 hits. Trailing 8-3 in the bottom of the sixth, the Cougars tallied 2 more, cutting the margin to 8-5.

Back-to-back doubles by Smith and Blake Dunaway produced an insurance run for North Pike in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning, LCHS loaded the bases after the first two batters were retired, but Thompson snared Cole’s smash that appeared headed to the right-center field wall.

Starter Ben Coney got the win for North Pike, with southpaw reliever Levi Wishart providing 2 and 1/3 innings of quality relief. Smith, Dunaway and Wishart led the Jags with 2 hits each. Roberts, Ben Coney, LD Coney, Brantley Hughes and Austin Smith also had hits for North Pike.

LCHS starter Will Jackson pitched 6 gutsy innings, but was saddled with the loss. Freshman Devin Thurman worked a solid seventh inning in his varsity debut. Jackson led the Cougars with 3 hits and center fielder Kewaun May added 2. Cole, Kody Smith, Logan Greenlee, Kasey Durr and Marcus Atterberry also got hits for Lawrence County.

“I’m proud of the way our guys fought back,” said Coach Keyes. “For the most part, I thought we played a very decent game. North Pike deserves a lot of credit. They really swung the bats well in these two games.”