The Bell County Bobcats have been participating in the LMU Railsplitters’ annual basketball team camp at LMU in Harrogate, Tenn. The Bobcats took down the Campbell County Cougars from Jacksboro, Tenn. 47-46 in their fifth game of the summer on Friday. With the victory, Bell County improved to 4-1 during the summer.

“We’re doing good, we’ve just got a long way to go,” said first-year head coach Brad Sizemore. “We’ve got to get fundamentally better. We’ve got guys out here working very hard. It’s a new system, and it’s going to take us a little bit of time to adjust. But, for summer basketball, we are doing pretty good. I like what I’ve seen. We just have to keep improving and we are going to be just fine.”

The match-up between Bell County and Campbell County was played on near even terms throughout its duration. In the final four minutes of the game, there were nine lead changes with the Bobcats holding on and securing a narrow one-point victory.

There were six lead changes in the first half as both teams continually traded buckets with one another. The Cougars led the Bobcats 24-23 at halftime.

Campbell County opened the second half with a 5-0 run. However, Bell County’s defense began to take over in the second half, coming out in a full court press. The defense paid off as the Bobcats were able to take advantage of a few steals that they turned into fast break points.

Each team took turns taking the lead away from the other in the final minutes of the second half, but Bell County’s defense held the Cougars to 22 second half points and they were able to secure the slim victory.

“This is an opportunity for us to get some extra playing in by doing these camps,” said Sizemore. “Each game is an opportunity for them to prove themselves and improve their abilities on the court. I think we have some guys that really want to play hard and get a lot better. The hustle I’ve seen out of the guys so far gives me a lot of hope. We still have a lot of work to do, but we will get there.”

The Bell County effort was led by London Stephney with 14 points. He was followed by Cameron Burnett with 12 points.