Devilettes survive Wilson Central 33-32

By Andy Reed

andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com

GLADEVILLE — Lebanon's girls could breath a collective sigh of relief after a missed late layup was not followed by game-losing free throws as the Devilettes survived a trip to Wilson Central with a 33-32 victory Friday night.

With Lebanon nursing a one-point lead, the Devilettes' Julia Fox drove to the basket but missed a layup with 19 seconds left.

Wilson Central got three shots in the closing seconds and, after a spate of confusion as the clock ran out, the officials put 1.2 seconds on the clock and Sydney Comer at the free-throw line for  a one-and-one. But Comer missed the front end, Lebanon's Faith Rushing got the rebound long enough for time to run out as the Devilettes moved to 12-10 for the season and 7-3 in District 9-AAA.

"We took the shot a little bit quicker than I wanted to," Lebanon coach Courtney McFarlin said. "I told the kids to shoot layups only. We had a layup, just didn't take advantage of it. It got us in a situation that we didn't want to be in. But in the end, we prevailed."

But games which are decided at the end are often not just decided at the end. Lady Wildcat coach Bud Brandon cited Lebanon's 14 offensive rebounds to Central's six as the home team fell to 9-10, 5-5.

"We missed free throws down the stretch," Brandon said after Central shot 4-of-7 from the line and 12-of-39 from the floor. "They scored 14 points in transition.

"In the third quarter, we had four turnovers. If you don't take care of the basketball and don't block out and don't take good shots and be patient, it's hard to win games. That's three areas of fundamental basketball that we were lacking in."

But Central built a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. Kendall Spray turned a touchdown pass into a three-point play to end the first period with a 12-8 Lady Wildcat lead. Hailey Averitt's three-pointer from near the top of the circle put the Lady Wildcats up by seven.

Lebanon slowly went on a run which reached 18-4 late in the third quarter on a steal and layup by Fox for a 28-21 lead. Kelsey Yarbrough's putback with 3:13 left put Lebanon in front 22-21, the Devilettes' first lead since 4-2.

But Spray sank back-to-back three-pointers to end the third quarter and start the fourth. Comer connected on a tying free throw and a pullup jumper for a 9-0 run which put Central back in front 30-28 just past the midway mark of the fourth.

Rushing dropped in two tying free throws for Lebanon and Madison Sloan, who led all scorers in the game with 11 points, converted a coast-to-coast layup to put the Devilettes in front to stay 32-30 with just under three minutes left. Rushing hit another foul shot before Rachel Bean sank a pair on the other end to bring Central to within a point.

"We hadn't been shooting the ball very well lately," McFarlin said. "A lot of that is our shot selection. We're not taking very good shots. We weathered the storm and we fought back and that's all I can ask of my kids."

Fox finished with 10 points while Yarbrough and Abby Wright each racked up four, Rushing three free throws and Bailey Sells one.

Spray scored nine to lead Central while Comer and Autumn Hopkins each had seven, Bean four, Averitt three and Kayla Jackson two.

Both teams will be in Gallatin for 6:30 p.m. games Tuesday - Lebanon at Station Camp and Central at Gallatin.

Balanced scoring leads Tigerette triumph

WATERTOWN — Watertown outscored Van Buren County 68-63 Friday night.

The Tigerettes led 15-13 following the first quarter, 31-23 at halftime and 51-46 through three as they pulled even at 11-11 for the season.

Watertown had three players in double figures, led by Bay Cole and Bobbi Staats with 13 points apiece from inside and Jasmine High's 10 from outside. Shelby Mofield sank three of the Tigerettes' seven three-pointers as she and Alicia Jennings each notched nine while Kirstin Vantrease tossed in two en route to eight. Katie Dalton dropped in six.

The balance helped Watertown survive the 33-point effort by Lakelyn Bouldin. Tiffany Grissom added 11, including two of Van Buren's five triples.

Watertown will next travel to Monterey for a 6 p.m. tipoff Monday.

Friendship falls at Trousdale

HARTSVILLE — Friendship Christian's bad even quarters undid their strong odd ones as Trousdale County took down the visiting Lady Commanders 53-48 Friday night.

The Lady Commanders held a 15-13 edge following the first quarter before Trousdale went on a 16-6 tear in the second to go up 29-21 by halftime. A 21-12 third-period run by Friendship gave the visitors a 42-41 advantage before the Yellow Jackets closed with a 12-6 fourth to improve to 8-13 for the season, 2-4 in District 8-A.

Sydney Shoulders sank three of Trousdale's five three-pointers in leading the Lady Jackets with 24 points.

Deja Jones led the Lady Commanders with 17 points in the post while forward Kaitlyn Teeter threw in 13 and guard Taylor Patterson 11, including three of Friendship's four triples. Kristian Watkins finished with five points and Aubrey Hawks two as FCS fell to 12-6, 3-2.

Friendship will play host to Gordonsville at 6 p.m. Monday at the Bay Family Sportsplex in a makeup of a game postponed Nov. 30 as both schools' football teams were winning state championships that weekend.

MJCA to play twice today, including homecoming

Ernie Banks may as well be an honorary Mt. Juliet Christian Saint today.

The Chicago Cub Hall of Famer who coined the phrase "Let's play two" will be right at home at MJCA as the Lady Saints and Saints play a rare high school basketball double twin bill.

King's Academy was unable to come in from East Tennessee for homecoming Friday night due to the icy weather, so the Lady Lions and Lions will be in town today for an 11 a.m. twin bill which will serve as MJCA's homecoming.

Today's contests with Knoxville Webb, originially set for a noon tipoff, have been moved back to 6 p.m.