Jr. Bears beat Blue Devils to win Area

Three Mt. Juliet Middle boys scored in double figures Thursday night as the Golden Bears rolled past host Walter J. Baird 62-43 in the TMSAA Northern Area final.
Mt. Juliet's girls dropped their final to Sycamore 48-38 earlier in the evening.
The Golden Bears widened a 17-14 first-quarter lead to 34-25 by halftime. Tyrell Bryson's putback at the third-quarter buzzer brought the Blue Devils within 49-39. But Mt. Juliet pulled away in the fourth to improve to 22-1.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Corderius Burns scored 17 points from inside for Mt. Juliet while guard Aaron Simms supplied 16 points and five assists and center Vaughn Cornelia finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Simms, Cornelia and Dylan Hopper were named to the All-Tournament team.
"They're a great team," Mt. Juliet coach Eddie Rockensock said of the Blue Devils. "We feel very fortunate to be able to beat them. They play hard. They do all the right things. Coach [Tim] Chappell has got them playing hard.
"We got some eighth-graders who are going up to the high school who have had a goal since the beginning of the season to win everything that we could, and they're carrying us right now, doing what it takes to win."
Caleb Chowbay finished with five points while Brandon Shepard and Matt Hayes each had four and Austin Odom two for the Bears, who play at 6 p.m. Monday in the Midstate Sectional at Blackman.
Kyrus Hoffinger had 11 points for Baird while Bryson knocked down nine, Chris McCathern seven, Hunter Christian and Marquelious Cason six each and Dylan Parker four as the Blue Devils dropped to 13-7. Christian, Hoffinger and Trevin Potter were named to the All-Tournament team.
"We've been working hard all season long and we're just happy to be where we are," said Chappell, whose Blue Devils will also play in the sectional at Blackman, expected to be at 6 p.m. Wednesday. "They're a great team and we're looking forward to hopefully seeing them again."

Lady Bears lose 10-point lead
Mt. Juliet's girls jumped to a 20-10 lead in the second quarter before Sycamore caught and passed the Lady Bears in the third and pulled away in the fourth.
Tournament MVP Katie Bliss threw in three 3-pointers on her way to 17 points, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth. Andrea Seagroves sank a pair of threes on her way to 12.
"They're the best guards we've seen all year," Mt. Juliet coach Rick Johnson said after his Lady Bears slipped to 22-4. "They don't really give us matchup problems, I think we have some solid guards, too. We're just a little underaged. We're young and sometimes we make some youthful mistakes and you can't make them against Sycamore.
"They made a run, we got in some foul trouble. They're a great foul-shooting team and we left some points at the line."
Sarah Roberts racked up all but one of her 10 points in the fourth quarter for Mt. Juliet. Caya Williams scored seven of her nine in the third while Briley Henderson supplied seven, Allyson Hayes five, Helen Mitchner four in the fourth and Amanda Pennycuff a three-pointer.
Mitchner, Henderson and Roberts were named to the All-Tournament team.
Mt. Juliet will play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Sectional at Christiana.
In the consolation games, Portland finished third in the girls' tournament with a 27-22 triumph over Knox Doss while Dickson's boys defeated T.W. Hunter 42-36.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.