Sharp-shooters drop Blue Devils

White County's boys couldn't miss from outside Tuesday night.
With J.J. Taylor and Corey Crain combining for nine three-pointers, the Warriors wore out Lebanon 80-66 at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court, dropping the Blue Devils to 0-2 in District 7-AAA.
Taylor fired in five of his six triples in the first quarter on his way to 20 points while Taylor knocked down 19 as White County climbed to 5-2 for the season and 1-1 in the district.
"They shot extremely well," Lebanon coach Doug Keil said of the Warriors. "They hit threes in transition early. We didn't do a good job matching up out of transition. J.J. Taylor especially and it gave them a lot of confidence and everybody fed off of him."
White County led 25-23 following the first quarter. A three-pointer by Ken Walton, who led all scorers with 22 for Lebanon, and a three-point play by Alex Johnson, boosted the Blue Devils to a 29-27 edge in the first minute of the second period.
But White Clounty moved ahead 40-36 by halftime and 60-55 thorugh three periods as the Blue Devils dropped to 5-4 for the season.
Like Walton, McCarver tossed in a pair of threes as he finished with 15 points. Conner Burger knocked down nine, Terrence Logue eight, Herschal McCathern seven and Johnson five.
Lebanon will travel to Murfreesboro on Friday to take on old district rival Oakland.

Veteran Wolverines overtake youthful Wildcats
LAVERGNE — After trailing most of the game, Wilson Central led by four with two minutes left before LaVergne's experience rose to the top in a 44-42 Wolverine triumph Tuesday night in the District 9-AAA opener for both teams.
"We just made some key mental mistakes in that last two minutes that really cost," Central coach Troy Bond said after his Wildcats fell to 4-2 for the season. "We showed the youth of our team.
"LaVergne has three starters back from a substate team which showed itself."
One of those veterans, Matt Smigielski, threw in three 3-pointerson his way to 16 while junior point guard Demario Watkins, another returnee, added 11.
Center Travis Adkins fired in 15 points and guard Kody Woodard 10 for Central. Kelten Stewart, JuJuan Brooks and Arcavius McMurray each finished with four, Teraes Clemmons three and Daniel Palmer two.
LaVergne led 14-9 following the first quarter, 27-21 at halftime and 34-29 through three periods.
Central will host district rival Beech on Friday.

WATERTOWN — Trousdale County was sizzling from outside Tuesday as the Yellow Jackets shot down Watertown 58-32.
Sinking 6 of 13 from three-point range, three Jackets scored in double figures. Tyler Burgdorf fired in four triples on his way to 18 points while Brennan Thurman finished with 15 from the wing and point guard Michael Ford tossed in 12 as each had one trey.
Aaron Fountain tossed in a pair of threes on his way to 14 for the Tigers, who were 12-of-39 from the floor in falling to 3-4 for the season and 0-3 in District 8-A.
"We're just having trouble scoring points," Watertown assistant coach T.J. Hewitt said.
Trousdale County led 7-4 following the first quarter, 29-14 at halftime and 44-27 through three periods.
Justin Breece and Nick Lennox scored six points apiece for the Purple Tigers while Victor Loza, Seth Pritchett and Dalton Phillips each finished with two.
Watertown will travel to Mt. Juliet Christian on Thursday.

Commanders crush Merrol Hyde on one day's practice
Who says you need lots of practice?
With most of the players having just one day of basketball practice, Friendship Christian finally got its season going Tuesday night with a 78-47 mauling of visiting Merrol Hyde at the Bay Family Sportsplex.
Coach Matt Bradshaw had just three basketball players available for practice for five weeks while the rest of the team was taking the football squad to the BlueCross Bowl last Friday.
But the Commanders widened an 18-15 first-quarter lead to 38-23 by halftime and 57-33 through three periods.
Michael Teeter tossed in 18 points from the post, guard Garrett McKnight scored 17 (including three third-quarter 3-pointers) and point guard Adam Stephens stroked in 10. All three are football players. More importantly, all three are also seniors.
"When you have six seniors, they've been here four years and they know what's going on," Bradshaw said. "They played hard. I had nothing to do with this.
"But it is nice to play a game... They scored a whole lot more than I thought they would."
John Hatcher notched nine points for Friendship while Cameron Spalding added eight, Parker Teeter five, John Doak three and Taylor Ferraro, Lee Maasen, Matt Goodner and Hardie Sorrels two each.
Alan Wong and Rob Kolp – who stand 6-3 and 6-8, respectively – scored 11 each for Merrol Hyde.
Friendship will travel to Clay County on Friday.

Westmoreland overcomes Mt. Juliet Christian
MT. JULIET — Mt. Juliet Christian had the early momentum against Westmoreland on Tuesday night before the Eagles soared from behind to a 63-49 District 8-A triumph.
The Saints shot out to a 15-7 first-quarter lead and were up by as much as 11 points in the second period before Westmoreland closed the margin to 24-23 by halftime. The Eagles went up 39-37 going into the fourth before putting Mt. Juliet Christian away down the stretch.
"They just kept pounding it in," Mt. Juliet Christian assistant coach David Kitchen said of the Eagles. "They hit their shots and we got out of our offense and started standing around on defense.
"Tonight was about a heart issue more than a talent issue."
Jeremy Truitt fired in four three-pointers as he and Tyler Graves each scored 16 points for Westmoreland while guard Teddy Kowalski and post Patrick Jenkins added 11 apiece.
Victor Underwood led all scorers with 24 points for Mt. Juliet Christian while Austin Wortman threw in three triples for nine. Bryce Middleton scored seven, Devin Bradshaw five and Daniel Shedd four as the Saints slipped to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the district.
Mt. Juliet Christian will host district-rival Watertown on Thursday.