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By TONY STINNETT, Courier Sports Editor
Seldom do two of the best players in program history come along at the same time.
It happened at Cannon County High School four years ago when Emily Sissom and Justin Davenport starred as seniors.
Fans have a chance to watch two of the most prolific scorers in Cannon County history again this year.
Senior Abbey Sissom, Emily’s little sister, recently moved into second on the career scoring list at Cannon County and has 2,229 points following a 22-point outburst at Upperman Friday.
Classmate Cory Henley has consistently been one of the top boys scorers for the past three seasons and has 1,107 points through Friday’s game at Upperman. He currently stands eighth all-time and is projected to finish in the top three all-time.
Henley joined the 1,000-point club during a 32-point outburst against Morristown East, Dec. 20.
“I had no idea I was even close to 1,000 points so I was pretty excited when coach (Matt Rigsby) told me about that,” Henley said. “It’s an honor to be mentioned on that list of players. They are some of the best to play here. I am just glad our team is winning.”
Henley’s scoring has been a key. The hot-shooting guard leads the Lions and has helped them to a 19-3 record, 6-0 mark in District 8-AA and a No. 10 state ranking.
“I believe Cory would tell you the only thing that matters to him is whether the team wins or loses,” Rigsby said. “He’s a team guy. We have been fortunate to have two of the top (eight) scorers all time in the last four years. That’s pretty good stuff for our fans.”
The same can be said for the Sissoms. While it may be rare to have two of the top eight in a four-year span, the Sissom sisters have provided two of the top four all-time scorers in the girls program during the last eight years.
Emily Sissom was actually third all-time with 2,181 career points when she graduated; however, little sister Abbey recently eclipsed her and moved into second all-time.
“I really don’t pay attention to the scoring totals and where I rank but when I learned that I had moved past Emily that meant something to me,” Abbey said. “I watched Emily growing up and she was a great player. I always wanted to be as good as my big sister. Just to be mentioned with some of those great players is an honor because they helped lay the foundation for the respect our program has today.”
At her current rate, Sissom could eclipse 2,500 points in her career. She currently stands at 2,229 and averages more than 20 per game. The two-time Miss Basketball Finalist and MTSU signee cares more about where her team finishes the 2013-14 season.
“The great thing about Abbey is she cares more about the team than herself,” Lionettes Head Coach Michael Dodgen. “She has scored a lot of points in her career, sure, but Abbey also is one of our top assists people and she plays solid defense. At the end of the day she is going to go down as one of the best players ever to suit up for the Lionettes, and she deserves that. She has represented herself, this program, this school and this community in a manner that would make everyone proud.”
Cannon County Career Scoring Leaders
Girls Boys
1. Julie Powell 2,894 1. Justin Davenport 1,719
2. Abbey Sissom 2,229 2. Ronnie Smith 1,460
3. Vickie Todd 2,193 3. Charles Dillard 1,342
4. Emily Sissom 2,181 4. Tom Bogle 1,233
5. Helen Hayes 1,933 5. Alan Bush 1,189
6. Beth Stewart 1,809 6. Eddie Bowman 1,185
7. Gloria Parker 1,625 7. Coby McDonald 1,144
8. Glenda Markup 1,540 8. Cory Henley 1,107
9. Tesa Tenpenny 1,349 9. Russell Davenport 1,073
10 Jill Trammel 1,311 10 Jason G. Foster 1,070
(Totals include Woodbury Central and Cannon County High Schools. Current players in bold).
