Looking towards tournament play
With only two weeks remaining until the district tournament, both Trousdale County basketball teams are trying to improve their seeds for postseason play. Entering this week, the Lady Jackets were fourth in league play with a 2-4 record and the Jackets were third with a 3-3 mark.
The biggest win for Trousdale County last week came when the Lady Jackets came from behind in the fourth quarter to down the Friendship Christian Lady Commanders (12-6) 53-48 in district play Jan. 25. The Lady Jackets outscored the guests 12-6 in the last quarter to raise their record to 8-13 and gain a regular season split with the girls from Possum Town.
"We had a good game plan that we tweaked a little bit and it paid dividends," Coach Jeremy Wilhelm said. "The girls played really hard, played with a lot of heart, a lot of emotion and I am just really proud."
Senior Sydney Shoulders matched her career high as she poured in 24 points and out dueled Friendship's Deja Jones, who had 17. Jones averages 22 per game to lead the district.
Seniors Bailey Howell and Natalie Storey along with sophomore Ashley Cornwell added eight apiece. Sophomore Macey Hawkins, freshman Hannah Brooke Ellis and sophomore Destinee Dixon had two, two and one respectively.
In the boys game, the Jackets had a 17-point lead at 25-8 early in the third quarter, but got outscored 20-5 in the last period to fall to the Commanders (5-13) 40-38 before the biggest crowd of the season at Trousdale County High School.
Sophomore Anthony Williams drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer for the Commanders to give them the win and their only lead of the game. Williams also hit a three with 4.1 seconds left to get the visitors within two.
On the ensuing inbounds play, the Jackets controlled the pass, but the ball was stripped and went out of bounds. The officials deemed the ball was last touched by the Jackets. Out of time outs, the Commanders inbounded the ball with 2.1 seconds left for the last second shot and the 10th win in 10 games against the Jackets in the current Trousdale County High School, which opened in 2004.
"We played a great three quarters," Coach Daniel Kemp said. "They just wanted it more in the fourth."
A number of second half turnovers and some poor free throw shooting down the stretch led to the disappointment for the Jackets.
Senior Dylan Hurst paced the Jackets with 13 points and junior Christian Lauderdale was also in double digits with 11. Senior Cody Sircy added seven, but appeared to be slowed by a knee injury and the brace he had to wear. Sophomore Marquel Claiborne came off the bench to score five and junior James Kelley had two.
On Jan. 22 at Mt. Juliet Christian Academy, the Lady Jackets raced to a 21 point halftime lead at 37-16 and went on to win 66-39 over the Lady Saints.
Sophomore Hannah Gregory and Cornwell each netted 15 while Shoulders had 13. Ellis had a solid effort with eight as Hawkins, Howell and freshman Abby Oldham added four apiece. Dixon had two to round out the scoring.
The Jackets took a 38-33 advantage into the final period, then outscored the Saints 15-4 to bring home a 53-37 win.
Lauderdale tossed in a game high 22 points to lead the purple and gold and Hurst followed with 14. Sircy added seven while Kelley and Claiborne had four each. Junior C.J. Dickerson and sophomore Kenyan Harper tossed in a free throw apiece.
Homecoming will be this Friday with McClain Christian Academy as the opponent. It will also be "pink out" as fans are encouraged to wear pink to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.
Bailey Howell was chosen as Queen and Dylan Hurst King. Senior attendants are Hannah Jones and Cameron Reid. Junior attendants are Darian Sullivan and C.J. Dickerson. Sophomore attendants are Ashley Cornwell and Kameron Gilpin and freshman attendants are Hannah Brooke Ellis and Logan Carr.