Commanders take four-game win streak to Florida

Dec. 20—Friendship Christian's boys took a four-game winning streak to the skies as the Commanders flew to Florida yesterday for the Battle on the Island tournament.

The Commanders conquered KIPP Nashville Academy 79-45 in a matinee last Saturday at the Bay Family Sportsplex.

Friendship led 25-11 at the first-quarter break, 40-23 at halftime and 54-40 going into the fourth.

Colby Jones sank two 3-pointers as he led four Commanders in double figures with 15 points while Kealin Horton had 14 and Noah Major and Caleb Kring 13 each. Riggs Rowe and D. Boone each scored seven, Miles Fitzpatrick and Braden Broomfield three apiece and

Sam Duckwiler and Xavier Humphrey two each.

Dontavius Gordon tossed in 12 points and Mckiyan Bynum 11 for KIPP.

The night before, the Commanders rolled to their third straight win via an 80-30 thumping of visiting Mt. Juliet Christian.

Friendship only trailed 3-2 as the Commanders used Jones' 10-point first quarter to build a 19-9 lead. He had nine in the second as FCS went into the halftime locker room ahead 40-18. It was 57-30 going into the fourth as Coach Jeff Long subbed out his starters down the stretch.

Jones collected a game-high 22, all in the first three quarter and 19 in the first two. He finished with three 3-pointers while Horton hit two on his way to 16, 13 of which came before halftime. Charley Carpenter sank all six of his free throws while freshman Humphrey rattled the rim with a fourth-quarter breakaway dunk as both added 11 points. Kring had all 10 of his tallies in the fourth. Duckwiler finished with four points and Rowe and Fitzpatrick three apiece.

Micah Smith sank a pair of 3s as he led the Saints with nine points while Brendan Dunn scored six, Chase Smith five, Max Beaty and Caleb Smith three each, Jamie Edgerton two free throws and Hezekiah Amick a free throw.

Once the Commanders arrive in Jacksonville, they will take on Wolfson at 11 a.m. CST today at Fleming Island High School. They will play Wednesday and Thursday before flying back to Nashville on Friday.

Blue Devils take it on chin at Hoop JamKNOXVILLE — Facing some of the top high school talent around, Lebanon's boys dropped an 80-53 decision to Richmond (N.C.) last Saturday in the Five Star Hoop Jam at Knoxville Coliseum.

The Raiders led 21-12 at the first-quarter break and 51-26 at halftime before the Blue Devils drew to within 45-41 going into the fourth. But Richmond, located in Rockingham, outscored Lebanon 35-12 over the final eight minutes.

Tamarian Wall fired in four 3-pointers to lead Richmond with 23 points while Jullien Cole sank six triples on his way to 20. J.V. Drake dropped in 10. Paul McNeil, a Five-Star prospect from the class of 2025, was held to nine.

Lebanon's star, Jarred Hall, hit 10 of 14 free throws and led all scorers with 25 points while Jaylen Abston added 11. Chaseton Dixon dropped in five in the fourth while Wyatt Bowling finished with four, Caden Baird and Aidan Donald three each and Landen Engles two.

The Blue Devils opened their East Tennessee trip with a 78-52 loss to Knoxville Webb the night before.

Lebanon led 7-6 eight minutes in before falling behind 30-24 by halftime and 51-39 going into the fourth.

Luka Walls sank all seven of his free throws as he led Webb with 18 points while Shavor Young tossed in 12 points and Cam Swearengen 10, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Hall led Lebanon with 12 points while Abston added 11. Brice Njezic knocked down a pair of 3s on his way to eight while Engles scored seven, Bowling six, Dixon five and Baird, Donald and Brody Reasonover two each.

Lebanon will return home to host the Kerry Malone Super Games today and Wednesday at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court. The Blue Devils will face Brainerd at 8:30 p.m. today and Pearl-Cohn 24 hours later.

Mt. Juliet rally falls short in fourthSMYRNA — Mt. Juliet rallied in the fourth quarter last Friday only to come up 59-52 short to Smyrna.

The Bulldogs built a 15-5 first-quarter lead, 33-19 at halftime and 45-33 through three before Mt. Juliet won the fourth 19-14 but came up short.

T.J. Sims sank three 3-pointers to lead Smyrna with 17 points. Brandon Sanders scored 14 points and T.J Lee 10 in the first half, including a pair of 3s in the second quarter.

Eric Williams sank a pair of triples in leading Mt. Juliet with 15 points while Osize Daniyan threw in 13. John Lloyd added eight points while Caronne Goree scored seven, Braxton Corey five and Ashton Kirkendoll four.

Mt. Juliet faced DeKalb County yesterday in the Adidas Shootout at Riverdale's Johnny Parsley Memorial Gymnasium in Murfreesboro.

Hawks spread wealth to rout SummitSPRING HILL — Green Hill dominated host Summit so much 13 Hawks scored in their 72-41 win last Friday night.

The Hawks led 19-9 at the first-quarter break and 39-19 at halftime.

Jason Burch was the only Hawk to score in double figures with 12 points. Kenny Ellis added nine points while Garrett Brown added eight, Andjuan Welch and Jordan Lukins seven each, Aaron Mattingly six, Trey Majors and Carter Lee four apiece; Seth Taylor, Niko Dufie and Braden Sanders a 3-pointer apiece and Rex Harmon two.

Derrick Smith sank two 3-pointers off the Summit bench as he led all scorers with 14.

Green Hill returned to the area last night to take on Independence in nearby Thompson's Station. The Hawks are scheduled to return to play next week in the Willie Brown '65 Tournament at Father Ryan.