McCarver rallies Blue Devils in 4th

SMYRNA — With Lebanon having squandered all of a 12-point lead and falling behind by three early in the fourth quarter Thursday night, O'Keefe McCarver dribbled to the rescue.
The Blue Devil guard scored all but two of his game-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to ignite Lebanon to a 60-48 win over Columbia in the semifinals of the Smyrna Tournament.
After Jonathan Cooper converted a three-point play to put Columbia in front for the first time 38-35 early in the fourth quarter, McCarver converted a driving layup into a three-point play to tie the score.
Cord Childress threw in a three-point basket to lift the Lions back in front by three.
Then McCarver really got rolling. His pullup three-pointer off a steal lifted Lebanon into a 43-41 lead and his pullup 17-footer from the wing put the Blue Devils in front for good 45-43.
He then wowed the crowd with a pair of coast-to-coast layups, one of which came after he appeared to dribble past all five Lions on the court, some of them perhaps more than once, for a 52-43 lead.
Then he and the other guards set up center Connor Burger for six baskets to end Lebanon's game-closing 22-7 run as the Blue Devils advanced to tonight's 8:30 p.m. semifinal with a 6-5 record.
Burger finished with 13 points. Terrence Logue did all of his scoring in the second quarter as he and Alex Johnson each added eight points while Casey Nunley and Herschal McCathern scored six apiece and Xavier Smith and Michael Edwards two each.
No one scored in double figures for the Lions, who slipped to 6-5.
Lebanon scored the first seven points of the game and led 13-5 at the first-quarter break.
Logue scored six straight points to lift Lebanon to a 19-7 lead before Columbia began chipping away at the margin, closing the difference to 25-18 by halftime.
A three-pointer by Mason Massey capped a 10-4 Columbia run to bring the Lions within 29-28. Burger scored on a one-hander in the post and Johnson scored on a pullup fallaway to stave off that threat.
But the Lions kept coming. After several missed opportunities, Cooper finally caught the Blue Devils for the first time at 35-35 on a putback in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
The Blue Devils will face the winner of Thursday's late game between Goodpasture and host Smyrna. The Cougars are coached by former Friendship Christian coach, and Lebanon resident, Keith Edwards.
Lebanon played without guard Ryan Beadle, who suffered a torn ACL during practice Tuesday.

Wildcats hit wall against Knoxville Catholic
KNOXVILLE — The road may have caught up with Wilson Central on Thursday. Knoxville Catholic certainly did.
The host team in the Pilot Foot Mart Classic controlled this game from the start in a 60-51 victory.
"We just had a bad first half of competing," Central coach Troy Bond said after his Wildcats fell to 9-5. "The second half, we came out and competed well. But we blew some opportunities and just didn't play well."
Catholic, which has been to four straight State Tournaments, first in Divsion II and the last two in Class AA, led 17-11 following the first quarter, 29-17 at halftime and 42-33 through three periods as the Fighting Irish improved to 6-2, with both losses coming before the end of the football playoffs.
Ryan Walden knocked down 19 points and Michael Conety 14 as each threw in three 3-pointers for Catholic. Harrison Smith, the Irish's 6-3, 215-pound Notre Dame football signee, muscled in 14.
Point guard Kelten Stewart threw in 13 points for Central while center Travis Adkins added 11 and guard Kody Woodard 10. JaJuan Brooks added eight, Daniel Palmer six, Arcavius McMurray two and Teraes Clemmons a free throw as the Wildcats connected on just 8 of 20 from the foul line.
Central will wrap up its Classic stay today with a 10:30 a.m. CST game against Campbell County.

Community gets away from Tigers in fourth quarter
UNIONVILLE — Watertown finally found some scoring help for Aaron Fountain on Thursday night.
But host Community took advantage of a couple of Tiger turnovers in the fourth quarter and pulled away to a 56-49 win in the Bedford County Classic.
Watertown overcame a 16-8 first-quarter deficit to go up 27-25 by halftime. The teams were tied 36-36 going into the fourth before the Tigers fell to 4-8.
"We played well, probably up until the fourth quarter," Watertown assistant coach T.J. Hewitt said. "We were tied. We had two straight turnovers and scored twice off that.
"They shot the ball lights out."
Center Josh Hull tossed in 21 points while fellow post Justin Stallings threw in 13 for Community.
Fountain threw in three triples on his way to 14 for Watertown while Levi Tschaekofske and John Kneisel each tossed in 12. James Shrum scored seven while Seth Pritchett pitched in a pair as the Tigers sank 16 of 49 shots from the floor.
Watertown will return to Bedford County tonight as the Classic shifts to Cascade, which will host the Purple Tigers.

Friendship falls to Harding
JACKSON — A last-second shot missed and Friendship Christian's boys fell 42-41 to Harding Academy on Thursday in the opening round of the Jackson Christian Tournament.
The Lions led 17-14 following the first quarter, 32-20 at halftime and 38-37 through three periods as Friendship fell to 4-3.
Big Marlon Brown muscled in 22 points from the post for Harding.
"He's just a good player," Commander coach Matt Bradshaw said of Brown. "(Michael) Teeter did a good job of containing him as much as he could.
"Our players did an outstanding job of fighting back. We just fell one point short. They're an outstanding basketball team. Playing some of the tough competition like we're facing, you've got to learn how to win close games."
Garrett McKnight tossed in two three-pointers for half of his 12 for Friendship while Teeter added eight, Adam Stephens and John Hatcher six each, Taylor Ferraro five and John Doak four.
Friendship will face Mars Hill (Ala.) at 11:30 a.m. today.

Craig sparks Mt. Juliet to the Ryan finals
NASHVILLE — While Mt. Juliet's defense was shutting Independence down, point guard Demond Craig was bouncing back from first-half foul trouble to spark the Golden Bears to a 61-40 win Thursday in the semifinals of the Father Ryan Tournament.
The Bears clung to a 26-25 halftime lead before Coach Troy Allen unleased Craig in the second half. He scored 15 of his 22 after the break to send Mt. Juliet into tonight's 8 p.m. final with an 8-5 record.
"Demond got two fouls and we sat him a whole lot," Allen said. "He makes us go. He gave us a spark after the half."
Then there was the defense. A night after scoring 33 in an upset win over Clarksville, point guard Johnny Kuchar led the Eagles with 10.
Center Cory Payne added 11 points for Mt. Juliet. But it was his defense which made the difference, Allen said.
"They got a 6-8 senior post player (Nick Luttrell)," Allen said. "Cory Payne had an unbelievable game. He had the best game I've ever seen him play.
"Cory would front him. They liked to lob to him and our helpside defense was just excellent helping Cory out."
A night after getting 18 against Clarksville, Luttrell was held to seven by Payne and Co. as Independence dropped to 12-2.
Jeremy Dixon tossed in 12 points for Mt. Juliet while Berek Lunn matched Craig's two three-pointers on his way to seven. Ryan Overstreet finished with four, Anthony Odom and Antwuan Majors two each and Robert Hill a free throw.
Mt. Juliet will face Blackman, which knocked off host Father Ryan 61-59, in the finals.
The wife of Blackman coach Kyle Turnham, MJHS grad Diane, is recovering from an angioplasty to treat three blockages in her arteries. As Diane Cummings, she played for the Bearrettes in the mid 1970s. She later assisted her high school coach, Larry Joe Inman, at Middle Tennessee State, where she was a longtime basketball assistant and head volleyball coach before becoming the school's associate athletic director.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.