Golden Bears Sharpe at 2 OT buzzer

Three-pointer lifts Mt. Juliet past LaVergne

By Andy Reed

Sports Editor

MT. JULIET — Thomas Sharpe's buzzer-beating three-pointer ended a long night of basketball on the first night of the Chick-fil-A Classic by lifting Mt. Juliet past LaVergne 63-60 in double overtime Friday night.

MJ's girls had already played an overtime game earlier, forcing the third game of the triple header to start late. It didn't finish until well after 10 p.m.

LaVergne missed a layup and a putback at the end of regulation to force the first overtime tied at 47-47. Mt. Juliet missed a three to send the game into the second OT even at 54-54.

"It wasn't pretty," Mt. Juliet coach Troy Allen said after his Golden Bears escaped with a 7-3 record. They will face Hunters Lane at 8 p.m. tonight. LaVergne will meet Brentwood, a 61-49 winner over Hunters Lane earlier Friday, at 5 p.m. today as the Classic wraps up.

LaVergne led 10-9 following the first quarter and 22-13 late in the second. But Nolan Chowbay, who paced the Golden Bears with 22 points, drove for a layup  and sank a three-pointer from the wing to bring the home team within 22-18 by halftime.

Chowbay hit two free throws to bring the Bears into a 24-24 tie and two more to put them up 26-24 in the third quarter. He and Reagan Johnson combined for 14 third-period points to lead Mt. Juliet to a 34-29 lead on a Johnson layup at the buzzer.

But Isiah Reese racked up 10 fourth-period points to lead LaVergne's comeback.

Johnson knocked down 19 points for Mt. Juliet while Daniel Schroder tossed in 10 from inside. Sharpe added eight and Hunter Gilbert four.

Chuckie Sutton scored 14 points, Reese 13 and Polo Sparks 12 for the Wolverines, who fell to 9-3.

Wildcats overcome Cavaliers, reach Sun Drop final against DeKalb

MCMINNVILLE — Wilson Central used a strong second quarter to climb from behind and a big fourth to pull away from Cookeville 49-33 in the semifinals of the Sun Drop Tournament on Friday night.

Cookeville led 12-10 following the first quarter before Central used a 10-4 second to go up 20-16 by halftime. The Wildcats closed with a 17-7 fourth to advance to tonight's 6 p.m. final against DeKalb County with a 9-3 record.

Jacob Williams scored 17 points, Blake Huffman 15 and sophomore A.J. Franklin 11, including three 3-pointers, as the guards came up big for Central. Jon Rosshirt finished with four and Ben Palmer two.

Trey Henderson had 14 points for the Cavaliers, who fell to 12-2 with both losses coming to the 'Cats.

GORDONSVILLE — Mt. Juliet Christian fell behind early in a 56-26 setback to Gordonsville on Friday night.

The Tigers led 16-7 following the first quarter and 30-12 at halftime.

Hunter Woodard scored 16 points and Colt Nukes 10 for Gordonsville.

Brandon Wall, Jackson Harrell and Zach Jones each finished with five points for the Saints while Brant Lamberth and Trevor West flipped in four apiece, Justus Willis two and Nathan Green a free throw.

Mt. Juliet Christian will be off until a Jan. 4 visit from East-Middle Region rival Ezell-Harding.

Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952, ext. 17; or by email at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com