Facing an old district rival, Walker Valley split a pair of games with Cumberland County on "The Stable" hardwood, Thursday evening. Coach Will Campbell's seventh-ranked Mustangs continued their hot start with a 79-51 grounding of the Jets, while the girls from Crossville prevailed 62-49. The Walker Valley Herds will take a few days off to celebrate the holiday before traveling to Dalton (Ga.
) for the Christian Heritage Christmas Tournament, Dec. 27-30. The Mustangs (11-1) will open against Seckinger (Ga.
) at 7:30 on opening night, while the Lady Mustangs (2-10) will face Lumpkin County (Ga.) that afternoon at 3. MUSTANGS 79 JETS 51 In a start reminiscent of matchups of old, the teams combined for 42 points in the opening eight minutes with senior Landon Shirk drilling five 3-pointers to help Walker Valley to a 23-19 edge.
The Herd took command in the second period with an 18-4 edge with the defense copping five steals and holding the visitors to just 2-of-11 shooting from the field. Looking for its first win of the season, Cumberland County (0-9) came out strong in the second half going toe-to-toe with the hosts to win the third quarter 16-14. Walker Valley squashed any hopes of a comeback quickly with an 11-2 run to start the final frame on its way to doubling up the guests 24-12 in the last eight minutes.
Hitting 7-of-10 shots from the field, Shirk led the victors with 19 points, plus handed out a couple of assists and cleared a trio of rebounds. Junior Turner Clayton was .
