'Cats can't complete comeback from scoreless second quarter

Jan. 17—GLADEVILLE — Wilson Central's boys outscored Mt. Juliet in two quarters and tied in a third last Friday night.

But Mt. Juliet pitched a second-quarter shutout and that proved to be just a little too much for the Wildcats to overcome as the Golden Bears opened District 9-4A action with a 42-37 win in the Battle of the Gateway.

The West Wilson rivals duked it out in the first quarter. Ethan Thomas's 3-pointer put Central ahead 9-6 going into the second quarter.

But Central didn't score again until after halftime while Mt. Juliet put up 13 points to go up 19-9 going into halftime.

"We had an awful second," Wildcats coach Michael Teeter said. "A lot of credit to Mt. Juliet. They do a really good job defensively. We had some shots that didn't fall. But we got out of rhythm. Had no flow offensively. Felt like defensively we were doing some good things but I think we had 14-16 turnovers in the first half and a lot of that went through that second. We just couldn't hang onto the ball. They did a good job of forcing that."

The Wildcats fell further behind 28-13 before finally finding the basket early in the second half. A 10-0 run of their own got them back in the game and they eventually drew to within 30-28 on Austin Alexander's 30-foot 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter.

But point guard Ashton Kirkendoll drove to the hoop for back-to-back baskets as the Bears ran off six straight to essentially put the game away and claim their sixth straight win and first district victory since 2021 after drawing a blank last season.

"We pride ourselves...in sitting down and guarding you and try to win the game defensively," said Mt. Juliet coach Jonathan Drake, whose Golden Bears have bounced back from a 2-6 start to a 12-9 mark. "It's not really pretty sometimes but they're starting to buy into that and understand it. I'm really proud of the effort.

"Third quarter we got a little bit sloppy. I think we got a little complacent but found a way to get it done yet."

Braxton Corey led Mt. Juliet with 10 points while John Lloyd scored seven; Kirkendoll, Jon'Mikael Crudup and Osize Daniyan six each; Eric Williams five in the third and Zion Sanders two.

Point guard Ethan Thomas keyed the Wildcats' comeback with nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Alexander added nine in the second half, Triston Blackburn finished with five in the third and Towan Siler, David Carvel and JaMichael Mitchell three each as Central slipped to 8-12 for the season and 0-2 in the district.

The Wildcats will have their bye tonight before returning to action Friday at Green Hill. Mt. Juliet will host Cookeville tonight.

Blue Devils defeated by Kentucky's top teamBOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Lebanon was no match for Kentucky's top-ranked Warren Central in a 90-51 loss last Saturday at Greenwood High School.

The Dragons led 25-16 at the first-quarter break, 42-24 at halftime and 68-38 through three periods as the Blue Devils dropped to 13-7.

Lebanon had no answer for Chapelle Whitney, who poured in 35 points for Warren, hitting two 3-pointers and 9-10 free throws. Omari Glover threw in 13 while Izayiah Vallauerle fired in four 3-pointers, three in the third quarter, for his 12.

Jarred Hall led Lebanon with 22 points, sinking all six of his free throws. His career total of 1,530 points has him 29 behind Scott Hallums' 1,559 from 1995-98 for second on the Blue Devils' career scoring list. He trails No. 1 Roger Fisher (1,577 from '63-67) by 47.

Jaylen Abston added eight of his 10 tallies in the third quarter for Lebanon while Wyatt Bowling scored six, Chaseton Dixon and Aidan Donald four each, Landen Engles three and Grayson Galentine two.

Lebanon will return to District 9-4A action tonight with a visit from Green Hill at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.

Green Hill pulls away from Ensworth in 4thNASHVILLE — Kenny Ellis sank two second-quarter 3-pointers as Green Hill took the lead and the Hawks hit eight fourth-period free throws to pull away from Ensworth 44-32 last Saturday at Montgomery Bell Academy.

Ensworth led 11-10 at the first-quarter break before Ellis' triples and Jason Burch's two inside baskets helped send the Hawks into halftime ahead 21-17. Ensworth got to within 30-28 before Green Hill controlled the fourth 14-4.

Burch finished with 15 points and Ellis 12. Parker Overath sank four fourth-period free throws for half of his eight while Aaron Mattingly managed four of his seven in the final eight minutes. Seth Taylor and Jordan Lukins each added a foul shot.

Devaki Garr got Ensworth back in the game in the third quarter with six of his 13 points.

Green Hill will return to District 9-4A action tonight at Lebanon's Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.

Hall's 29 lifts Lebanon past Cookeville 78-67Jarred Hall's 29 points helped Lebanon to a 78-67 win over visiting Cookeville in District 9-4A action last Friday night at Campbell Brandon Gym/HesterGibbs Court.

The Blue Devils led 22-16 at the first-quarter break, 40-32 at halftime and 62-45 through three as they improved to 2-0 in district action and 13-6 overall.

Hall hit 5 of 7 free throws and got all 12 of his baskets inside the arc. He crossed the 1,500-point threshold and passed Cameron High (1,493 points from 2009-12) to move into third place on Lebanon's alltime scoring list.

Caden Baird buried four 3-pointers for his 12 points for Lebanon while Wyatt Bowlling tossed in 10. Jaylen Abston and Landen Engles each notched nine points, Avery Harris six on a pair of second-quarter 3s and Aidan Donald two.

Josh Heard led four Cavaliers in double figures with 15 points while Jason Davis drained four 3-pointers for his 12. Bennett Reeves racked up 11 and Jack Oakley 10 as Cookeville, coming off a three-overtime loss at Green Hill last Tuesday, opened the district schedule 0-2.

Cookeville will return to Wilson County tonight when the Cavaliers travel to Mt. Juliet. Lebanon will host Green Hill.