Blue Devils pull away from Beech

From staff reports

After a slow start, Lebanon opened the second half on a run and went on to pull away from visiting Beech 57-44 Tuesday night at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.

Beech led 13-10 following the first quarter and 27-23 at halftime as the Buccaneers sank six three-pointers in the first half. KeShawn Abston, playing on his 16th birthday, kept Lebanon in the game by hitting three of his four triples in the opening 16 minutes.

"We didn't do a good job at times matching up," Lebanon coach Jim McDowell said of the first half. "[Abston] has been struggling a little bit. He really played better on the defensive end, which gave him more minutes and opportunities on the offensive end."

McDowell slapped a fullcourt press in the second half and Lebanon opened with a 7-0 run. Freshman big man Yalen Reed got some deflections at the top of the press and fellow post Zach Santana played the back line.

"That really set the tone for the second half," McDowell said after his Blue Devils improved to 9-16 for the season and 5-8 in District 9-AAA. "I was proud of our guys for making some plays down the stretch."

Zimmer Hunn led Lebanon with 15 points, including three of the Blue Devils' seven triples. Abston tossed in 12 while Santana and DaShawn McMurry 10 apiece. Reed, who closed the game with a left-handed jam for the Blue Devils' first dunk in their new gym, and Jemel Officer each finished with four points and Julian Crutchfield two.

Sam Landrith led Beech with 15 points, including three of the Bucs' eight triples. Philip Baites bagged two triples on his way to 13 while Corey White swished three from downtown and finished with 11 as the visitors fell to 7-18, 3-10.

Lebanon will celebrate Senior Night on Friday against Portland, which beat Beech last Friday and upset Wilson Central on Tuesday.

Portland gets in first, last blows to upset Central

GLADEVILLE — Javaris Rippy's three-pointer with a second to play was the knockout punch for visiting Portland in a 50-48 upset at Wilson Central on Tuesday night.

"We were supposed to switch out on anything that came out, and didn't do a good job," Wildcats coach Troy Bond said. "We got a good contest on the shot, but he hit it."

But Central's problems started before the shot. Portland landed the first jabs in building a 17-12 first-quarter lead and the Wildcats spent the rest of the night trying to gain control. The Panthers were up 29-24 at halftime before the teams were even 36-36 going into the fourth. Ben Palmer's free throw put the Wildcats in front 48-47 with 4.2 seconds left.

"We didn't come out with mentally ready to play," Bond said after Central slipped to 19-7 for the season, 9-4 in District 9-AAA. "They played really hard and we didn't have any response. We didn't play very hard.

"They just outplayed us. There's no other way to look at it."

Kedrick Howard was another problem for Central as he buried five three-pointers on his way to 20 points. Rippy racked up 10.

Central struggled offensively as well as Jacob Williams' 17 points were tops for the 'Cats. Blake Huffman had 10, Matthew Hall eight, Palmer seven and A.J. Franklin six.

Now, Central will go to Mt. Juliet on Friday night where the winner will take the No. 2 seed and the loser No. 3 in next week's district tournament.

Purple Tigers capture 8-A top seed

GORDONSVILLE — Watertown coach Matt Bradshaw said earlier Gordonsville worried him the most out of all the teams in District 8-A.

After needing overtime to beat Gordonsville at Watertown last month, the Purple Tigers fell behind in the first half on Tuesday before asserting themselves in a 54-46 victory to clinch the top seed in the upcoming league tournament.

Gordonsville jumped to an 11-4 lead and was up 17-13 at the first-quarter break. But Watertown went on a run midway through the second and took a 37-27 lead into halftime and a 54-46 advantage into the fourth as the No. 4 Purple Tigers improved to 22-3 for the season and 7-0 in the district.

"We missed point-blank shots early and got in a hole," Bradshaw said after four of his Purple Tigers scored in double figures to help bring them back. "We had good balance tonight. We still didn't shoot well [41 percent], but their size bothered us at times."

Point guard Macieo Gaines paced the Purple Tigers with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals. Ethan Moss fired in four of Watertown's six three-pointers on his way to 13 points while wing Ty Jobe totaled 12 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Josiah Smith added 11 points to go with six assists.

Zack Edwards scored seven points, Ben Bain five and Nick Sackman and George Theragood, coming off an MRI on his knee, four each.

Gordonsville post Colt Nokes stepped outside to drain a couple of threes in leading the hosts with 19 points while Hunter Woodard scored 16.

Watertown will close its district schedule at home Friday night with Trousdale County.

Bears rally from slow start into second-place tie

GALLATIN — Mt. Juliet fell behind early and spent the rest of Tuesday night catching up to, and passing, Station Camp in a 53-47 victory.

The Bison bolted to a 16-5 first-quarter lead before Mt. Juliet rallied to within 20-16 by halftime. The Golden Bears moved in front 35-33 going into the fourth as they improved to 14-10 for the season and 9-4 in District 9-AAA, setting up Friday night's home battle with Wilson Central for second place in the league.

Reagan Johnson knocked down 19 points for Mt. Juliet while Thomas Sharpe sank two three-pointers on his way to 14. Nolan Chowbay chipped in with nine, John Mark Bell seven and Hunter Gilbert four.

Trae Hatcher hit a pair of threes and led Station Camp with 16 points.

Harrell perfect in Senior Night Saints win

MT. JULIET — Jackson Harrell missed his last shot on Mt. Juliet Christian's court even before taking the floor Tuesday night.

Harrell enjoyed a Christian Laettner night by hitting every shot he took in a 69-55 win over Zion Christian. He hit all four of his three-pointers, all three two-pointers and all four free throws for a total of 22 points.

"He's had really big numbers before," longtime Mt. Juliet Christian coach Paul Christensen said. "But I'm not sure we've ever had a kid go 7-for-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line.

Mt. Juliet Christian led 20-17 following the first quarter, 42-24 at halftime and 56-34 through three as the Saints ended a 9-15 regular season.

Trevor West added 15 points for Mt. Juliet Christian while Brandon Wall bagged a pair of threes as he and Brant Lamberth each scored six. Justus Willis finished with five, Gilbert Russ three and Alex Graves and Zack Jones two each.

John Gibbons threw in 13 points, Terrell Blakesleay 12 and Caleb Coble 10 for Zion.

Mt. Juliet will be the No. 5 seed in the Division II District 1-A tournament and travel to No. 4 St. Andrew's-Sewanee on Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. game with the winner traveling to top-seed Knoxville Webb.