MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Grace Academy Golden Eagles may not have played their best game of the season at MTSU's Murphy Center Wednesday afternoon, but it really didn't matter after they defeated Oliver Springs in the opening round of the TSSAA State Tournament.
The Golden Eagles improved to 23-7 with the 50-44 victory over the Bobcats and will face the Westwood Longhorns in Friday's second Class A semifinal game at 12:45 (EST). Westwood advanced with an impressive 68-50 win over Humboldt.
Grace coach Jon Mattheiss was somewhat nervous before the game started, but he was more relaxed with the final horn sounded.
"This is the fourth time in the last seven years we've played here and we know that the first day can sometimes be the toughest. We just wanted to survive and move on, but it's nice to get the first one out of the way," he said.
"We have some quickness on our team and we wanted to take advantage of that. We got a nice lead at the end of the first quarter, but they got back in it in the second. I never felt like they were out of it. We certainly didn't play our best game today.
"Friday's game with Westwood will be a totally different style, but we'll do our best to figure out how to slow them down. Nobody is looking at us, but we're just one game away from the finals," the veteran Golden Eagle leader added with a smile.
Oliver Springs coach Tony Ingram certainly didn't make any excuses for his team.
"We pride ourselves on defense and that's what kept us in the game in the second quarter. We got in foul trouble and that limited us late in the game, but we didn't take care of the ball. We had 21 turnovers and that was our big uh-oh for the game," Ingram nodded.
Lucas Tarver scored on a short bank shot with 4:36 remaining in the opening stanza to give the Bobcats a 7-4 lead, but Grace scored a dozen unanswered points for a seemingly-comfortable 16-7 lead at the first break.
Oliver Springs scored the first eight points of the second quarter and even tied the score at 17 when Jordan Romero scored with 3:03 showing before the half, but Taylor Wilson's putback with 51 seconds remaining allowed the Golden Eagles to take a 23-22 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
Brandon Herman scored on a layup to start the second half as Grace never trailed in the final two stanzas.
The difference was 38-34 after three. It was still a four-point game when Herman converted a three-point play inside three minutes to give Grace a little breathing room.
Tarver scored on the Bobcats' next possession, but they never got any closer as Grace held on for the victory.
Herman only had three points in the first half, but came back strong to finish with 23 to lead both teams.
Wilson was also in double figures for Grace with 11.
Wesley Rather paced Oliver Springs with 15 points while Tarver followed with 10.
Rather also grabbed 10 rebounds as Oliver Springs won the battle of the boards, 34-28. Herman and Nathan Rector both grabbed seven to lead Grace.
Oliver Springs 7 15 12 10 -- 44
Grace Acacemy 16 7 15 12 -- 50
OLIVER SPRINGS (44) - Tarver 10, Miller 5, Eskridge, Harper 7, Rather 15, McBee, Sweet 2, Taylor, Romero 5.
GRACE ACADEMY (50) - Rector 7, Church 2, Wilson 11, Nelson 7, Herman 23, Schley, Ruebusch, Carter, McMasters.
3-POINT GOALS: Oliver Springs 2-8 (Tarver, Rather); Grace Academy 3-12 (Wilson, Nelson, Herman).
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)