Wildcats rout Rossview

By Andy Reed

andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com

GLADEVILLE — In a stressful time of year, Wilson Central's boys got off to a stress-free beginning in the Region 5-AAA tournament with a 74-46 rout of visiting Rossview on Saturday night.

The Wildcats roared to a 36-2 getaway midway through the second quarter before the teams played evenly the rest of the way as Central moved on with a 23-8 record.

"We did a great job of sharing the ball early and we made shots," said Central coach Troy Bond, whose Wildcats will face Hendersonville at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals at Beech. "They struggled to make shots. When you put the ball in the basket, it sure takes care of a lot of problems for you.

"Our kids were focused coming out. They knew the importance of this ballgame."

Big man Ben Palmer powered in 15 points to pace Central while guard Jacob Williams fired in 14 and Blake Huffman 12. Deante Miller and Matthew Hall each had nine, A.J. Franklin seven, Cortez Owens six, Preston Reed two and Jon Rosshirt and Casey Brandon a free throw apiece.

"Every guy on the floor came in and contributed," Bond said. "Our bench guys, again, were big.

"You put together a half like that, it's hard to come back if you're the opposing team, and our guys stuck it to them."

Axel Magnuson tossed in 10 points for the Hawks, who returned to Clarksville with a final 10-17 record.

"We could easily play them five times and it'd be four tough ones and one like this that would pop up," Bond said. "The Hendersonville game will be tough; it's a tough matchup and we just got to be ready to go, be ready to play."

Gaines' buzzer-beater saves Watertown from upset

WATERTOWN — That giant sigh of relief heard from Watertown late Saturday night was the sound of the Purple Tigers finally putting pesky Pickett County away for the season.

Point guard Macieo Gaines scored on a jumper in the lane as time expired to send Watertown to a 43-41 escape in the Region 4-AAA opener.

Pickett handed the Purple Tigers one of their three losses this season and had Watertown on the ropes at the end of the regular season before WHS roared back.

This time, Watertown led 2-0 and at the end, trailing the entire game in between.

"We didn't do a very good job defensively, gave up 32 points in the first half [to trail 32-24 at halftime], which is not typical of us," Watertown coach Matt Bradshaw said after the Tigers escaped with their 27th triumph of the season.

The Tigers turned up the defensive heat in the second half, holding Pickett to nine points after intermission. Watertown closed to within 36-35 going into the fourth quarter.

"We definitely did a better job in the second half," Bradshaw said. "Great defense by Jo[siah] Smith [forcing several five-second calls], and Ty Jobe did a great job on their big kid inside [Kyle Hughes].

"We just chipped away."

Watertown grabbed a rebound with a minute to play and held the ball until taking a time out with 24 seconds left. Pickett County had played a 2-3 zone all night until after that time out, when the Bobcats came out in a man to man.

"We had two plays called, a zone play and a man play," Bradshaw said. "Macieo was the one we wanted taking the shot. He came down off the screen [set by Jobe] and got in the paint."

And the rest is history, setting Watertown up for a 7:45 p.m. semifinal on Tuesday on the Tigers' floor against Jackson County, which ended Friendship Christian's year-long run as state champions.

Gaines' 16 points and five assists paced the Purple Tigers while Ethan Moss swished home three 3-pointers for his nine. Jobe scored six with six rebounds and Smith, Ben Bain and Nick Sackman four each.

John Michael Ferrell scored 16 points and Wyatt Bouldin 14 while Hughes was held to seven for Pickett County.

Jackson County ends Friendship's reign as state champs

GAINESBORO — A night after Friendship Christian's girls ended Clay County's run as state champions, the boys saw their own reign as Class A kings come to a crashing end 53-45 at Jackson County in Saturday's Region 4-A opener.

The host Blue Devils closed with a 20-9 fourth quarter to overcome a 36-33 deficit to advance to Tuesday's 7:45 p.m. semifinal at Watertown with a 13-16 record.

Friendship fell behind 11-6 in the first quarter. But a 16-2 second launched the Commanders to a 22-13 halftime lead before their season ended at 10-16.

Conner Hall had 20 points for Jackson County while Jonathan Brown bagged a pair of three-pointers on his way to 15. Brent Davidson dropped in 10.

Allen Heaston, Friendship's only senior [there are no juniors on the season-ending roster], closed out his Commander career with a 25-point night. Colton Gaines scored six while Anthony Williams and Andrew Wood each finished with five and Zac Anderson four.

Bears' rally falls short

DICKSON — Mt. Juliet fell into a big hole early and couldn't complete the comeback in a 73-65 loss at Dickson County in the Region 5-AAA tournament opener Saturday night.

The Golden Bears fell into a 16-5 first-quarter hole before playing even, or slightly winning, the remainder of the stanzas. Dickson County led 33-22 at halftime and 53-44 going into the fourth as the Cougars advanced with a 25-6 record to Tuesday's semifinals against Henry County at Beech.

Mt. Juliet's season is finished at 17-13.

Dickson dropped in 10 three-pointers, including four by Jequan Lewis, who totaled 28 points. Tyler Spicer swished home three triples and finished with 17 while Caleb Tuck tossed in 10.

Nolan Chowbay tossed in two of Mt. Juliet's six triples in leading the Golden Bears with 22 points while Reagan Johnson scored 17 and James Womack 10. Hunter Gilbert hit two threes and John Mark Bell one as each supplied six points while Daniel Schroder and Thomas Sharpe tossed in two apiece.