Meigs County Beats Central 81-78 On Harris 3 In Overtime

Tigers Drain 14 3-Pointers In Cleveland Tourney Win

  • Wednesday, December 28, 2016
  • Larry Fleming

CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Meigs County’s Tigers stole the spotlight Wednesday in the Cleveland Holiday Tournament at Raider Arena.

The Tigers, snapping a two-game losing streak, scorched the nets with 14 3-pointers and defeated Chattanooga Central 81-78 in overtime when Cam Harris drained a clutch 3 from the right corner with 1.2 seconds remaining.

It was Harris’ only 3 in the post-Christmas barn-burner.

“I couldn’t buy a shot all night until right at the last,” Harris said. “With time running down I just had to get a good look at the goal.”

There were five other games on the first-day card and the host Cleveland Lady Raiders and Raiders closed out the jam-packed day with back-to-back victories over East Ridge.

The tournament is being renewed after a three-year hiatus.

The boys’ and girls’ teams with the most wins and combined points will receive plaques following the final games on Friday.

Meigs County took a big step toward a possible plaque when, with an open look, Harris drained the game-winner that hit nothing but net as the Class 1A Tigers improved to 10-3 on the season.

Ironically, Central’s Brett Abshire made his only 3-pointer of the hotly contested battle to tie the score at 76-76 with 1:39 left in the overtime period.

Meigs County’s Jesse Rayl responded by dropping in a 15-foot jumper for a 78-76 advantage with 45.9 showing.

Pounder sophomore Davon Reid’s layup knotted the score again, this time with 24.9 seconds on the clock.

After a timeout the Tigers worked the ball around the perimeter against Central’s 2-3 zone defense and Harris came open deep in the corner for the pivotal basket.

Senior McClendon Curtis threw a long inbound pass that was deflected out of bounds by a Meigs player. With possession in front court Curtis took the inbound pass behind the 3-point line and launched a desperation shot, but it was off the mark.

“I told our guys there are two things Meigs does that we can’t allow them to do against us,” said Central coach Rick Rogers, whose squad fell to 2-7. “That’s shoot free throws and 3-pointers. Let them do either one and they’re going to capitalize on it and win the game.”

The Tigers outscored the Pounders 42-3 behind the arc – Brantly Baker hit seven 3s – and were 5 of 7 from the stripe. Central made just one 3 and went 7 of 12 at the free-throw line.

Meigs County hit five 3s in the fourth quarter and that helped wipe out Central’s 68-60 lead in the final 1:25 of regulation. A Baker 3 tied the game at 71-all and set up the overtime.

Baker came right back with another 3 to start the extra period.

Wriley Smith made three 3s in Meigs County’s long-range assault.

“For what we are, and that’s a young team, we’re just trying to compete, get better and win some games,” Rogers said. “That’s the fourth game we’ve lost when we had the lead in the fourth quarter. It is what it is.”

Rogers has one senior, three juniors, seven sophomores and a freshman on his roster.

Meigs County was playing without point guard Zy Moore, but the senior-laden Tigers have had numerous players take up that slack.

Curtis scored 22 points, grabbed 24 rebounds, blocked three shots and had two assists in a strong effort. At 6-foot-8 and 290 pounds, Curtis had his way close to the rim.

Reid finished with 19 points and Marcus Tankersley added 12 for the Pounders.

The Tigers had five players in double figures. After Baker, Rayl scored 16 points, Harris 12 and Smith and Clint Oliver each added 11.

“It was an awesome game,” Rogers said. “Playing a game like this is a whole lot better than a practice.”

Cleveland boys 73, East Ridge 38: What’s new? When it comes to Blue Raiders’ basketball, not so much.

KK Curry was once again the on-court offensive stud with a game-high 22 points with 13 coming in the second half when Cleveland (13-1) kept its foot on the gas pedal.

That enabled Deontae Davis to grab a portion of the spotlight with 13 points in Cleveland’s 28-point, second-quarter outburst that stretched a 13-5 lead into a 41-9 spread at halftime.

In that quarter, Davis made all three of his 3-pointers and he would finish the blowout with 17 points.

“KK is so fast off the floor I often say our best play is a missed shot because he can go get the ball,” Cleveland coach Jason McCowan said. “We played him at point guard some tonight. He’s pushing 6-5 and can see over the defense. His wing span is 6-8. Night in and night out, he gives us good effort.”

The Blue Raiders will play Clarksville Northeast on Thursday. Northeast defeated Daniel Boone 59-46 in an earlier game.

“They got off to a slow start in their game, but wound up winning by double digits,” McCowan said. “They shoot well and rebound well. It’s going to be a good challenge for us. Oak Ridge showed us that you can’t take a day off.”

Elijah Garmany was East Ridge’s main offensive weapon with 17 points – he was the lone Pioneer in double figures – and he got 14 in the second half.

East Ridge fell to 3-10 on the season with Wednesday’s loss, its sixth in seven games.

Oak Ridge dished out the Blue Raiders’ lone loss with a 76-56 win in the Champion Chevrolet Shootout in Johnson City on Dec. 16. Cleveland rebounded with a 64-52 victory over Fulton the following day and claimed its second straight win by blasting East Ridge.

Cleveland girls 57, East Ridge 38: The Lady Raiders didn’t have a lot of lucky stopping East Ridge’s Jayla Stone, but none of the other Lady Pioneers were able to do much damage at all.

Stone scored a game-high 31 points, including all four of the team’s 3-pointers, but only three of her teammates were able to score.

On the other hand, the Lady Blue Raiders (7-7) had 12 players score at least one point and while none challenged Stone for game-scoring honors, Bailey Anderson led the way with nine points. Madison Rue and Sofia Stamadiadis each added eight.

Cleveland enjoyed a 27-25 halftime lead and went to the locker room at halftime with a 41-33 margin. The Lady Pioneers were held to five points in the fourth period. Only in the third quarter was East Ridge able to reach double figures with 18.

Clarksville Northeast boys 59, Daniel Boone 46: The Upper East Tennessee Eagles jumped into a 7-0 lead, but the Midstate Trailblazers had a 35-31 advantage by halftime.

Northeast’s Jontae Brown scored 13 of his 15 first-half points to spark a 20-point second quarter for the Trailblazers (10-2) gained the upper hand.

Brown finished with a game-high 23 points while leading Northeast to its third straight win. The Trailblazers beat Fulton City (Ky.) 71-31 and Gleason 102-16 in its previous two contests, both in the Fulton City Classic.

Jaylon Tharpe scored 16 points, 11 coming in the first quarter.

Chad Heglar led Daniel Boone (6-6) with 12 points – all in the first half – and Eric Rigsby added 10 points.

Meigs County girls 64, Red Bank 28: The Lady Tigers (9-3) raced to a nine-point, first-quarter lead and then jumped all over the Lady Lions (6-7) by pouring in 23 points in the second period to build a 40-12 lead.

Kassidy Kenny scored nine points – four field goals and a free throw – in the big second period and teammate Macie Boggess nailed two 3-pointers for the Lady Tigers, who have won seven straight games.

Kenny finished with a team-high 15 points and Boggess added 12 points.

The Lady Tigers went 27-5 in 2015-16, a season that ended with a disappointing 56-54 region loss against Midway. The previous year, the Lady Tigers lost in the sectional round and in 2013-14 ended their season in the Class 1A state semifinals.

Layla Babb led the Lady Lions with nine points.

Warren County girls 52, Unicoi County 48: The Lady Rebels overcame a 27-20 halftime deficit by outscoring the Lady Devils 20-3 in the third quarter, in which Elsa Eckenrod scored 10 of her 14 points.

Megan Patch led Warren County (9-6) with 16 points, including three 3-pointers.

Kaylee Headricks led Unicoi County (2-11) with 13 points and had 11 points and three 3s in the fourth period. Halie Padgett added 12 points with eight coming in the first half when the Lady Devils built a seven-point advantage.

The Lady Devils have lost 10 straight games. Their last win was a 39-36 decision against Cherokee on Nov. 19.

Thursday’s Schedule

Noon -- Red Bank girls vs. Warren County 

1:30 p.m. -- Chattanooga Central boys vs. Daniel Boone

3 p.m. – Meigs County girls vs East Ridge

4:30 p.m. – Meigs County boys vs. East Ridge

6 p.m. – Cleveland girls vs. Unicoi County

7:30 p.m. – Cleveland boys vs Clarksville Northeast

Linescores

Girls Games

Unicoi County                       15 12 3 18 – 48

Warren County                     12 8 20 12 – 52

Unicoi County (48) – Griffith 9, Kaylee Headricks 13, Edwards 3, Halie Padgett 12, King 3, Bailey 8, Yance.

Warren County (52) – Cathcartt 5, Moore, Mikkola 2, Bain 7, Wright 2, Megan Patch 16, Elsa Eckenrod 14, Smith2, Young, Hodges 2, Wanamaker 2.

3-Point Goals – Unicoi County 4 (Headricks 3, King 1), Warren County 4 (Patch 3, Eckenrod 1).

Red Bank                              8 4 7 9 – 28

Meigs County                        17 23 18 6 – 64

Red Bank (28) – Roberts 2, Layla Babb 9, Romans 7, Claiborne, Evers 4, Pratt, Kennebrew 3, Bowens, Ndiaye, Stewart 3.

Meigs County (64) – Dankworth 4, Crager 7, Boggess 6, Shaver 2, Moore 2, Kassidy Kenny 15, Alyson Crowder 12, Bales 6, Meadows 8.

3-Point Goals – Red Bank 2 (Babb 1, Stewart 1), Meigs County 4 (Boggess 2, Crowder 2).

East Ridge                             9 6 18 5 – 38

Cleveland                              15 12 14 16 – 57

East Ridge (38) – Jayla Stone 31, Hill 2, Jordan, Adams 3, Kendrick, Murphy 2, Toney, Willbanks, Moton, Harvey.

Cleveland (57) – Reed 4, Renshaw 4, Rouse 2, Colbaugh 4, Dasher 6, Franklin, Lee 3, Stamadiadis 8, Goodman 1, Barton, Martin, Callahan 2, Rue 8, Morman 6, Bailey Anderson 9.

3-Point Goals – East Ridge 4 (Stone 4), Cleveland x ().

Boys Games

Clarksville Northeast          15 20 9 15 – 59

Daniel Boone                        12 19 7 8 – 46

Clarksville Northeast (59) – Franklin 5, Cross 6, Jontae Brown 23, Gonzalez 5, Jaylon Tharpe 16, Taylor 2, Vereen 2.

Daniel Boone (46) – Chad Heglar 12, Eric Rigsby 10, Stevens 1, Fitzgerald, Norris 2, Turner 9, Brooks 4, Scanlan 8.

3-Point Goals – Clarksville Northeast 4 (Tharpe 2, Brown 1, Franklin 1), Daniel Boone 2 (Heglar 2).

Chattanooga Central          16 21 14 20 7 – 78

Meigs County                        17 20 12 22 10 – 81

Chattanooga Central (78) – McKibbons 9, Payne, Davon Reid 19, Marcus Tankersley 12, Abshire 6, Jackson 4, Isom 2, McClendon Curtis 22, Odom.

Meigs County (81) – Wriley Smith 11, Brantly Baker 25, Cam Harris 12, Jesse Rayl 16, Simmons 2, Clint Oliver 11, Fowler, Swanson 4.

3-Point Goals – Chattanooga Central 1 (Abshire 1), Meigs County 14 (Baker 7, Smith 3, Rayl 2, Harris 1).

East Ridge                             5 4 12 11 – 38

Cleveland                              13 28 23 9 – 73

East Ridge (38) – Johnson 4, Hinton 2, S. Garmany 3, Hudgin 3, Mathis 3, Simmons 2, Elijah Garmany 17, Johnikin, Eberhardt 4.

Cleveland (73) – Wykle 3, Berry 8, Bradford 2, KK Curry 22, Wood 2, William. s 3, DWare 1, Patterson 5, Deontae Davis 17, K. Ware, Cobb 4.

3-Point Goals – East Ridge 8 (E. Garmany 5, S. Garmany 1, Hudgin 1, Mathis 1), Cleveland 5 (Davis 3, Patterson 1, Wykle 1).

(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gamail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

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