Wildcats hold off Blue Devil comeback

Wilson Central's boys used a balanced attack to build a big lead over host Lebanon and then withstood a late Blue Devil rally to win 66-62 Monday at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.
The Blue Devils led or were tied in a first-quarter which ended in an 8-8 tie. But Central surged in front in the second period and never trailed again.
"It was a real physical game," Central coach Troy Bond said after his Wildcats concluded an 18-10 regular season. "Our kids dug down and made some plays when we had to, expecially some free throws down the stretch.
"Lebanon played well, stuck in there."
The Wildcats, who led 23-16 at halftime, opened a 15-point margin late in the third quarter before the Blue Devils battled back to within three, 62-59, on a driving layup by Ken Walton in the final minute of the game.
But Central point guard Kelten Stewart sank 8 of 10 free throws in the fourth quarter and JaJuan Brooks took a baseball pass from Travis Adkins for an uncontested coast-to-coast layup to seal the deal.
"We did a good job of mixing our zone and our trap and kept them from running some," Bond said. "We got a few fastbreak points. Against their press we got some easy points."
Guard Kody Woodard and center Travis Adkins each fired in 14 points for Central while Stewart and forward Daniel Palmer added 11 apiece. Brooks scored seven, Arcavius McMurray six off the bench and Preston Jenkins a three-pointer.
O'Keefe McCarver helped bring the Blue Devils back with 16 points, including a
trio of treys. Walton tossed in 12 while Herschal McCathern came off the bench to musle in 11. Connor Burger scored six, Xavier Smith fired in five and Alex Johnson, Michael Edwards and Terrence Logue four each as Lebanon concluded a 16-13 regular season.
Both teams will open district tournament play at 7 p.m. Friday. The Blue Devils, seeded fifth in District 7-AAA, will have to win at No. 4 White County to extend their run of Region 4-AAA tournament appearances to 14 straight seasons. The winner will face top-seed Oakland at Riverdale at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Central tied with Mt. Juliet for third place in 9-AAA. But the Golden Bears' win over top-seed Gallatin last Friday gave then the No. 3 seed and sank the Wildcats to No. 4, where they will host Beech while the Bears entertain Hendersonville at Tommy Martin Gym. The winners will advance to Saturday's semifinals at Beech. Central would face top-seed Gallatin at 5:30 p.m. while Mt. Juliet would face the Smyrna-LaVergne survivor at 8:30.

Saints do fine without Underwood in finale
MT. JULIET — No Victor Underwood. No problem for Mt. Juliet Christian, which scored a regular season-ending 66-44 win over Curry-Ingram on Monday.
While Underwood was sitting out with a fever, his replacement in the post, Blake Marsh, was torching the visitors with 24 points while senior guard Bryce Middleton fired in 15 as the Saints improved to 13-15 going into Thursday's 6:30 p.m. District 8-A tournament game at Trousdale County.
Austin Wortman threw in three triples for his nine points for the Saints while Devon Bradshaw scored seven; Jonathan Roberts, Daniel Shedd, Beau Gilbert and Tyler Holloway two each and Dylan Gammon a free throw.
Eon Sermons scored 13 points and Ethan Hill 12 for Curry-Ingram.
Mt. Juliet Christian led 16-8 following the first quarter, 29-15 at halftime and 44-27 through three periods.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.