SPRING HILLL – Three Williamson County boys' high school basketball teams suffered season-ending defeats by just two points or less Saturday at Summit High School in quarterfinal action of the Region 6-4A tournament.
Ravenwood, Franklin, Independence and Columbia Central all survived to advance to Tuesday night's semifinals. Winners Tuesday night are guaranteed a spot in the Class 4A Sectional round – the last stop before the state tournament in Murfreesboro.
Ravenwood boys 60, Centennial 58
When you open a 20-6 lead midway through the second quarter of a ballgame, you can sometimes feel pretty comfortable about the ending.
Not in Region 6-4A.
Ravenwood opened up that advantage with four minutes left in the second stanza, but 20 minutes later needed a 12-foot floater from senior Lee Molette to swish through the net with less than five seconds remaining to beat back a tenacious Cougar squad in the first of four quarterfinal games Saturday.
It was the second game-winner of the year for the athlete better known for his prowess on the football field, and he did not shy away from the challenge.
"I watched it all the way through," the University of Connecticut football signee said. "I just thought big-time players make big-time plays and I thought this might be my chance to step up for my team."
Help it did, but the Raptors still had to dodge a last-second opportunity for Centennial to inbound the ball and go the length of the floor. The Cougars made the proper court movements, but the inbound pass took a strange curve and sailed into the grandstands, ending any chance of a miracle or overtime. The Cougars had closed District 11-4A tournament play with a game-winner over Brentwood.
Ravenwood coach Patrick Whitlock, who went from demonstrative and emotive to quiet and pensive –and back again – while on the bench said he really had no concerns.
"You won't believe this, but I was pretty calm," he said. "I told the guys all week, at this point in the year we are who we are. I had a lot of confidence in this group – we have a lot of seniors. When things got tight we relied on those guys and they went out and made plays."
Seniors Andrew Lamuno (14 points) and DJ Starr (10 points) helped lead that charge early along with classmate Jake Mulder.
Mulder scored 18 in the contact-heavy contest, hitting 9 of 10 from the free-throw line.
"It was a very physical game, but we kept battling through," said Multer, a Trevecca signee. "I was confident in all my guys and just put my trust in my teammates."
As calm as he was, Whitlock was not surprised by the turn of events.
"It's postseason basketball. Centennial deserves a lot of credit," he said. "They've got some young guys, some really tough kids. Their future is very bright, and they went out and battled in the second half.
"Anytime you get these Williamson County teams in a do-or-die situation they are going to come back. We knew they were going to make a run. We just wanted to have the mental toughness to withstand that run and we did."
Centennial's Reed brothers, senior Devon (14 points) and sophomore Dominic (15 points), did all they could to change the ending, along with Taner Lee (14 points). And the effort of the night – and the season – did not escape coach Jeremy Moore. "That comeback is a tribute to those guys in the locker room right now who have no give up in them," Moore said. "They are going to be ultra-successful after life at Centennial. Right now, they don't realize there is a bigger life out there, but they are going to go and do great things."
"The thing I love about them is they are going to fight," he continued. "You can knock us down, but they just found a way to get back in it. I really thought if we could get a shot on goal with 2 seconds left we were going to win that game."
Despite ending the season, Moore sees bright spots in the experience of the contest.
"I think this will help our younger kids," he said. "One, to experience the region tournament. This is a different game. We coaches say it's just another game, but no it's not. When it's over one team is picking up uniforms and you don't' get to be a part of that team any more. Our walk through this morning was our 76th practice together."
While the season ends for the Cougars, there is more to settle for the Raptors. And Molette has his eye on that prize.
"I'm glad we made to the next round, but the job is not done," he said. "We've got to go out Tuesday against Franklin and make sure we make to the next round."
Franklin boys 67, Summit 56
After trailing by 15 points entering the fourth at 47-32, Summit came roaring back on No. 1 seed Franklin, cutting the difference to just six with four minutes to play. But the Spartans were forced to foul and the Admirals did what they do well, dropping in 16 of 17 charity attempts to reach the region semis.
"Summit really came out and protected their home court, made a run there late to put a lot of pressure on us," said a relieved Admiral head coach Jason Tigert. "We were fortunate to shoot well at the free throw line and that was the difference."
Franklin put the Spartans in catch-up mode by cheerfully swapping threes for twos in the first half. The Admirals notched 7 of 9 treys for the game in the first 16 minutes.
"We shoot more threes than most teams," Tigert explained, "because we think we have five on the floor who can hit them. We haven't been shooting well here, but we figured it out tonight."
Davis Long accounted for three of the seven long-range bombs in the first half and finished with a game-high 24 points. Tom Fortner (14 points), Noah Magee (13 points), and Sam Medalie (10 points) also got in on the early air raid as the Admirals overcame the absence of playmaker Jack Medalie, who was out with an undisclosed injury.
Summit got a strong performance from freshman Issac Powers, who has become dominate in the last five games. He netted 17 points before fouling out. The Spartans got balance in their attack from Andrew Smith, Bradley Stewart and CJ Jones, who all reached double figures.
As tough as falling at home can be, head coach Jim Fey tried to give his team a philosophical approach to the disappointment, based on his experience leading two of his East Nashville teams to the state championship game.
"I told the kids I haven't won a state championship, so I've lost the last game I've played every year," he said, noting Smith and Jones as seniors. "Only the state champions are not going to have this feeling."
"The kids played hard, we just missed some opportunities and made some mistakes," he continued. "It's just one of those things. I really appreciate the seniors we had, who gave me all the effort they had."
The victory sets up a No. 1 versus No. 2 in the first semifinal Tuesday night at 6 p.m. when the Admirals tip off against Ravenwood.
Independence boys 47, Hillsboro 46
The Eagles struggled mightily early, falling behind 20-6 at one point in the second quarter and still trailing by seven at the start of the fourth before a rousing comeback led by Matthew Witt.
"That is not the way we wanted to draw it up," said a sweaty and spent Mark Wilkins, coach at Independence. "Give credit to Hillsboro. Coach (Rodney) Thweatt does an awesome job. They took away things we like to do and made it really hard for us to score.
"Thankfully we made some plays at the end and got one point more than they did. I know it sounds cliché, but it's true."
Hillsboro kept the Eagles' top offensive weapon Jett Montgomery in check for three quarters before Witt decided to change things. The junior made two defensive plays, followed by dunks at the other end.
The second, a penetrating drive down the right side of the lane with two defenders on his hips, capped by hotly-contested, authoritative two-hand jam, to ignite the Indy faithful. It also drew the complete attention of the Burros, allowing Montgomery to slice and dice his way to eight fourth-quarter points that turned the tide for the Eagles.
"He [Witt] is an amazing kid and an amazing athlete," Wilkins gushed. "He has come such a long way and has gained more and more confidence as the season has gone along. His second dunk of the night was one of the more impressive ones I've seen. I'd like to say I gave him advice on how to do that, but I can't and I haven't."
Witt netted 14 points, while Montgomery collected 13. Hillsboro was led by Caden Herron's evenly spread 20-point effort. Trey Johnson added 14 for the Burros.
Columbia Central boys 45, Brentwood 43
If concert promoters always try to save the best act for last, one most certainly planned Saturday's region quarterfinals.
In a raucous, topsy-turvy 32-minute gut-check battle, Columbia Central mounted a late comeback to end Brentwood's season and sending the top-seeded Lions to face new rival Indy in region semis.
The Bruins kept Columbia off balance early, building a low-scoring 18-14 lead at half. Brentwood doubled down by more than just controlling the district's top player Q Martin to just three points, but sending him to the bench with five fouls at the start of the fourth quarter.
But the Bruins had no answer for the Lion's Jordan Davis and Roni Bailey in the final eight minutes. Davis posted nine of his game-high 23 points in that time frame, while Bailey dropped in six of his nine.
At the same time, Brentwood went cold at the free throw line during the stretch. After hitting 8 of 9 freebies in the first half, the Bruins missed 5 of 12 in the fourth, opening the door for the Columbia comeback.
Brentwood had a final chance when Bailey missed the front end of a bonus with 3.9 seconds remaining, but the Bruins could not get a clean shot before the horn sounded. It was a disappointing ending for Brentwood coach Troy Bond and his crew.
"I thought we had a great game plan and I thought for 99.6% of the game we did a great job with it," said Bond, whose team played without injured senior guard Jake Brock. "Free throws down the stretch and a couple of turnovers really hurt us. But we battled against a really good opponent."
The Bruins could have folded after losing the services of team captain and one of their floor leaders in Brock less than two weeks ago, but they didn't. "Our kids are resilient," Bond said. "They could have easily given up on the year, but they came to play. I can't say enough about the opportunity to coach them. We'll take a little break and I know they will be ready to get right back to work for next year."
As painful as the loss is now, it portends well for the future as Brentwood had a great deal of youth on the floor in another tight contest. The team starts two sophomores and a freshman.
Brentwood was led in scoring by sophomore Daniel Cochran with 17 points. Senior Davis White added 14 points in his last contest in Bruin blue and gold.
Ravenwood boys 60, Centennial 58
RHS 9 19 15 17 – 60
CHS 4 15 22 17 – 58
RHS (60) – Jake Mulder 18, Andrew Lamuno 14, DJ Starr 10, Lee Molette 9, Evan Gainer 5, Matthew Williams 2, Brett Shelby 2.
CHSl (58) – Dominic Reed 15, Devon Reed 14, Taner Lee 14, Luke Burnette 6, Malaki Moore 3, Matthew Busing 3, Joe Nelson 2, Tytus Tagatauli 1.
3-pointers – RHS 2 (Gainer, Mulder); CHS 10 (Lee 4, De. Reed 2, Do. Reed, Burnette, Moore, Busing). Total Fouls – RHS 16; CHS 20. Fouled Out – None.
Franklin boys 67, Summit 56
FHS 15 18 14 20 – 67
SHS 9 11 12 24 – 56
FHS (67) – Davis Long 24, Tom Fortner 14, Noah Magee 13, Sam Medalie 10, Drake Mullen 4, Hudson Taylor 2.
SHS (56) – Issac Power 17, Andrew Smith 12, Bradley Stewart 10, CJ Jones 10, Tanner Shake 5, Kade Lenfestey 2.
3-pointers – FHS 9 (Long 4, Fortner 2, Medalie 2, Magee); SHS 7 (Power 2, Stewart 2, Smith 2, Jones). Total Fouls – FHS 12; SHS 21. Fouled Out – Powers.
Independence 47, Hillsboro 46
IHS 4 17 10 16 – 47
HHS 12 13 13 8 – 46
IHS (47) – Matthew Witt 14, Jett Montgomery 13, Tyus Anderson 9, Brayden Buck 6, Josh Owen 3, Cameron Bell 2.
HHS (46) – Caden Herron 20, Trey Johnson 14, Ty Fisher 6, Cortez Graham 6.
3-pointers – IHS 5 (Buck 2, Montgomery, Anderson, Owens); HHS 2 (Herron 2). Total Fouls – IHS 15; HHS 11. Fouled Out – None.
Columbia Central boys 45, Brentwood 43
CCHS 5 9 11 20 – 45
BHS 11 7 10 15 – 43
CCHS (45) – Jordan Davis 23, Roni Bailey 9, AJ Pillow 8, Q Martin 3, Malachi Horton 2.
BHS (43) – Daniel Cochran 17, Davis White 14, Nick Degnan 8, Grayson Collins 2, Davis Smith 2.
3-pointers – CCHS 4 (Davis 2, Pillow 2); BHS 1 (White). Total Fouls – CCHS 21; BHS 18. Fouled Out – Martin.
