Lady Jackets cage Tigers in overtime
The Trousdale County Lady Jackets (11-15) needed a win at Watertown and a Red Boiling Springs loss to Gordonsville to finish third in the district to stay out of an elimination game in the district tournament.
Both games were overtime thrillers and the Lady Bulldogs fell to the Lady Tigers as the Lady Jackets held up their end of the deal with a 72-67 win Friday night.
Perhaps the Lady Jackets were looking for some revenge after suffering an embarrassing 20 point home loss to the Tigerettes (12-15) three weeks ago.
"The girls played unbelievable," Coach Jeremy Wilhelm said. "We came with a different game plan, one that we haven't used all year and they really did a good job of executing and playing good defense against a very fast, quick and athletic Watertown team."
The Lady Jackets raced out to a 14-4 first quarter lead and went up by 13 at 23-10 in the second period. The Tigerettes drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 29-26 at the half. Midway through the third quarter the hosts gained their first lead at 36-34.
The see-saw affair tilted back to the Lady Jackets in the fourth quarter when they managed two different nine point leads. But Coach Lane Price's girls fought back to end regulation knotted at 65 all.
In overtime, Watertown had to play without two starters as they fouled out and Trousdale County hit enough free throws to seal the deal.
Senior Bailey Howell poured in a career high 28 points on 10 field goals and eight free throws. Sophomore Hannah Gregory added 16 and senior Natalie Storey 14. Senior Sydney Shoulders netted seven and went over 1,000 points for her career in the process. Sophomore Destinee Dixon added seven.
In the boys game, the Jackets (10-16) fell behind 26-8 in the first quarter and from that point the Purple Tigers (23-3) coasted to a 72-45 win.
At the midway point of the third quarter the game turned into a junior varsity affair as the Jackets dropped their sixth consecutive game to the Purple Tigers.
Senior Dylan Hurst was the only Jacket in double figures as he canned 11. Freshman Ricky Harrison came off the bench in the second half to add eight. Senior Cod Sircy garnered seven, sophomore Marquel Claiborne six and junior Christian Lauderdale four. Junior Clay Cothron had three and sophomores Kenyan Harper and Josh Jackson had two apiece. Sophomore Seth Holder and freshman Logan Carr each tossed in a free throw.
On Feb. 5, Trousdale County had Senior Night as Red Boiling Springs came to visit.
The Lady Jackets secured a 48-42 victory in Red Boiling Springs in January as were looking to complete the regular season sweep, but Lady Bulldog Coach Larry White had other ideas.
The Lady Jackets held a nine point lead, 35-26, at halftime, but got outscored 20-9 in the third quarter and eventually fell in overtime 64-61.
"It was a tight game, back and forth," Wilhelm said. "We kept plugging away and got it to overtime and just came up a little short."
Shoulders had a game high 22 points and Storey followed with 13. Sophomore Ashley Cornwell tossed in nine and Howell had six. Dixon, Gregory and sophomore Macey Hawkins rounded out the scoring with five, four and two respectively.
The Jackets quickly took control of their game, outscored the Bulldogs in every quarter and won 52-28. It was the Jackets' fourth consecutive win over the Dawgs and their 10th of the season.
"I thought we played a decent first half and a pretty good second half to close the door," Kemp said. "It was also Senior Night, it was something our guys can remember and hold onto for the rest of their lives."
Hurst lead all scorers with 21 and Sircy had 14. Lauderdale came through with eight and Harper had three. Junior C.J. Dickerson, Holder and senior Cameron Reid added two apiece.
The District 8-A tournament girls semifinals will be Feb. 14 at Trousdale County High School. At 6 p.m. Gordonsville will play either Red Boiling Springs or Watertown. At 7:30 p.m. Trousdale County with face Friendship Christian.
The boys will take the floor the following night with Watertown taking on either Friendship Christian or Red Boiling Springs at 6 p.m. followed by Trousdale County versus Gordonsville.
The girls consolation and championship games will be played Monday and the boys on Tuesday.
District 8-A final standings
Girls
Gordonsville 7-1
Friendship Christian 6-2
Trousdale County 3-5
Red Boiling Springs 2-6
Watertown 2-6
Boys
Watertown 8-0
Gordonsville 5-3
Trousdale County 4-4
Friendship Christian 3-5
Red Boiling Springs 0-8