Devilettes rally for McFarlin's first win

From staff reports

CLARKSVILLE — Lebanon's girls took charge in the second half and pulled away from host West Creek for a 53-39 victory in Courtney McFarlin's debut as Devilette coach.

Creek Wood led the TSSAA Hall of Champions game 12-10 following the first quarter and 25-22 at halftime. Lebanon used a 14-6 third period to go up 36-31.

"It was a good win, got some of the first-game jitters out of the way," McFarlin said. "We started playing our game [in the second half] instead of playing into their hands.

"We got a couple of steals...rebounded the ball and kept them from scoring."

And Lebanon enjoyed balance scoring with four players in double figures. Sydney Floyd led the Devilettes with 15 points while Abby Wright racked up 13, Madison Sloan 11, Kelsey Yarbrough 10 and Morgan Bruce four.

Jazmine Torian tossed in 13 points and Shayla Smith 11 for West Creek.

Lebanon will host Smyrna at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in the first game in the new Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.

Blue Devils fall short at West Creek

CLARKSVILLE — Lebanon's boys had trouble with West Creek's size Thursday night as the Coyotes held off the Blue Devils 54-49 in a TSSAA Hall of Champions game.

West Creek led 10-9 following the first quarter and 28-22 at halftime before Lebanon went on a 15-8 run in the third quarter. Eddie McDaniels' three-pointer from the corner put the Blue Devils in front and the visitors took a 37-36 edge going into the fourth.

Lebanon fell behind again in the fourth. A KeShawn Abston triple brought the Blue Devils within 50-49 with less than 10 seconds left. LHS was called for a foul on a long West Creek pass and the Coyotes hit two free throws and, after a steal a basket at the buzzer.

"We had first-game jitters and got into some first-half foul trouble," second-year Lebanon coach Jim McDowell said. "Fourth quarter, we had some good looks and good opportunities. We weren't able to hit some shots and they were."

Lebanon had a matchup problem with 6-foot-5 guard Jimario Rivers, who led all scorers with 21 points for West Creek. Jashin Almon added 11.

"West Creek's pretty long and athletic," McDowell said. "They went 6-5, they had a 6-5 guard and another 6-4 post.

"We were going to have to emphasize keeping them off the offensive boards. We didn't do as good of job of that as we had hoped."

Abston, a sophomore, sank all six of his free throws and DaShawn McMurry threw in three 3-pointers as each dropped in 13 points for the Blue Devils. Senior post Zachary Santana, playing basketball for the first time since his freshman year, had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. McDaniels scored seven points and Jemel Officer, Zimmer Hunn and J'Quan Jackson two each.

Lebanon will return home to host Smyrna on Tuesday in the first game at the new Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.

New-look Lady Bears beat Overton

NASHVILLE — A very different looking Mt. Juliet girls team battled past host Overton 39-25 in a TSSAA Hall of Champions game Thursday night.

Facing Overton's zone, the Lady Bears led 8-4 following the first quarter, 14-8 at halftime and 23-14 through three.

Mt. Juliet graduated seven seniors and lost a couple of other players who moved from last year's State Tournament team. In addition, guards Savannah Sanders [summer shoulder surgery] and Tyia Waller [head injury sustained in a play day a couple of weeks ago], also missed the game.

"We're really young this year," said Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer in describing his 15th Lady Bear team. "We're going to have to be patient. We don't have a senior. We have four juniors and the rest freshmen and sophomores."

On the plus side, Fryer did get the DeGray twins, sophomores who transferred in from Cane Ridge. The 6-foot-0 Ronjanae DeGray  scored 17 points from the post while holdover Sally McCabe collected 15, mostly from inside though with a three-pointer. Point guard Ashley Roby, who spent most of the last year battling breast cancer, finished with four points from the point while 5-10 Raeyana DeGray dropped in three.

Mt. Juliet will next play in the O'Charley's Classic at LaVergne next weekend. The Lady Bears will face Centennial next Friday afternoon and Hunters Lane on Nov. 24.

Golden Bears drop opener at Overton

NASHVILLE — Mt. Juliet's boys dropped their season opener 58-47 at Overton Thursday night in a TSSAA Hall of Champions game.

The Bobcats led 16-10 following the first quarter and 31-18 at halftime before the Golden Bears battled to within 43-34 going into the fourth.

Daniel Goode dropped in 12 points for Overton while Shaquille Davis drained three 3-pointers on his way to 11. Ivan Alsup added 10.

Reagan Johnson's 16 points led Mt. Juliet while Hunter Gilbert hit a pair of threes on his way to 11. Austin Brown knocked down nine points, Thomas Sharpe five, Daniel Schroder four and James Womack two.