Commanders overtake Trousdale County

GORDONSVILLE — After working off 10 days worth of rust, Friendship Christian methodically dusted off Trousdale County 49-35 in the District 8-A semifinals Monday.
Friendship, which hadn't played since beating Merrol Hyde in the Feb. 9 regular-season finale, fell behind 15-7 early in the second quarter before the Commanders went on a 20-1 run to go up 27-16 early in the third as they moved into Wednesday's 8 p.m. championship game with a 21-5 record. FCS will face Gordonsville, a 68-58 winner over Westmoreland in the later semi.
"I didn't expect for us to come out and play fantastic the first quarter," said Friendship coach Matt Bradshaw, whose No. 8 Commanders also clinched a first-round Region 4-A home game Saturday at the Sportsplex. "We've had some really good days of practice. The kids were hitting shots, executing well. But you cannot simulate game-type scenario and so they came out with a lot of emotion, hitting the basket early on.
"We weathered the storm from the standpoint they made their run and we matched them with a bigger run."
A wide-open three-pointer by John Doak, one of two triples on his way to 15 points, opened a 36-22 lead late in the third quarter. It was Friendship's largest margin until Adam Stephens converted a fallaway three-point play in the final minutes for a 49-34 spread.
"They were content with slowing the ballgame down and with that type of slow game, when you build a lead to 12, 15 points, unless they decide to turn the tempo up, we were going to be satisfied with a 10- or a 15-point win."
Michael Teeter scored 16 points for Friendship while Stephens and Garrett McKnight each finished with five, John Hatcher four and Lee Maasen and Taylor Ferraro two apiece as the Commanders connected on 20 of 39 shots [51 percent] from the floor. McKnight supplied six assists.
Forward Brennan Thurman scored 16 for the Yellow Jackets, who shot 36 percent [12-33] from the floor in falling to 10-17 for the season. They will face Westmoreland in the consolation contest at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and travel to one of the top District 7-A teams in Saturday's region opener.
Saturday's winners will advance to the region semifinals next week at Watertown.
The girls' district tournament will wrap up tonight at Gordonsville with Watertown taking on Trousdale County in the 6:30 p.m. consolation contest, followed by Gordonsville and Westmoreland in the finals. WHS and Hartsville will play on the road in the region opener Friday with those winners advancing to the semifinals at Watertown.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.