Balanced Howard Rallies To Eliminate Loudon, 71-62

Howard To Meet Tyner On Thursday In Repeat Of District 6-AA Finals

  • Tuesday, March 2, 2021
  • John Hunt

LOUDON, Tenn. – It will be a repeat of the District 6-AA tournament finals when the Region 3-AA is decided Thursday night.

Tyner nipped Howard 38-36 in the district finals with a last-second shot and these two proud progams will meet at Tyner again after both advanced with wins in the region semis Tuesday night.

Tyner eliminated Red Bank by a 62-47 margin while Howard rallied for a 71-62 victory over the District 5-AA champion Loudon Redskins.

Thursday’s winners will host a sectional game on Monday while the loser will play on the road.

The Hustlin’ Tigers didn’t appear ready to play on Tuesday night as the host Redskins dictated the tempo en route to a 33-32 lead at the break.  Howard turned up the defensive intensity in the second half and that was the difference as the visitors improved to 18-4 with the victory.

Loudon’s season ends at 18-10.

Howard coach James Talley was just glad to see his team finally start playing their own style of basketball.

“It seemed like they brought the fight to us in the first half as we were in a funk,” Talley explained after the big game ended.

“We just had to settle down and play our game, but we needed that defensive intensity in the second half to turn things around.  That number five (Donovan Blankenship) is a great player for Loudon, but I thought Cobi Dixon played one of his best games of the season trying to defend him.

“I thought we just went through the motions in the first half as we were really sluggish starting out, but Kerrick Thorne got in foul trouble and spent most of the first half on the bench.  But his teammates did a good job of picking up the slack and making sure that we lived to play another day.

“We finally started playing for the name on the front of our jersey and I was happy to see it, but we have to turn around and play Tyner again with only one day to correct our mistakes.  But I’m just glad to get this one behind us,” Talley sighed with a smile on his face.

Loudon coach Josh Graves certainly hated for his team’s season to end with a home loss, but he couldn’t have asked for more than his kids were willing to give.

“I thought we played our hearts out, but we just need to learn how to finish better,” he began while talking to parents and other Loudon supporters in the gym following the game.

“You just can’t measure the size of these guys’ hearts, but we didn’t shoot nearly as well in the second half and we missed to many point-blank layups.  That was the difference in the game.  Howard turned the pressure up and we made some critical mistakes, but what a special group of kids we have.

“I’m really proud of what we accomplished and we have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.  We just need to keep holding our heads high,” Graves nodded with a touch of emotion in his voice.

The first half was a up-and-down for both teams as there were eight ties and eight lead changes in the first 16 minutes.

Xavier Fisher gave Howard a 32-30 lead with a short jumper in the lane in the final minute before Keaton Harig gave his team a 33-32 lead at the break by converting a three-point play with 14.6 seconds left.

While Loudon pretty much dictated play in the first half and were effective with drives down the lane, the Hustlin’ Tigers were a different team in the second half.

Mark Greer sank a short bank shot to start the third quarter and Howard never trailed again as they created a little breathing room with an 8-1 run to start the second half.

Dixon sank two free throws and Thorne completed a three-point play to give Howard a 50-41 lead with 2:11 left in the third before Blankenship and Broady Harrison got the Redskins back to within five at 50-45 with layups in the final minute.

Howard slowly extended its lead in the final eight minutes and Loudon was forced to foul in hopes of getting the ball back quicker. 

Howard connected on just nine of 18 charity tosses in the fourth quarter after hitting five of seven in the first three stanzas, but the lead was simply too big for Loudon to overcome.

Meechie Bowens and Dixon both scored 16 points to lead Howard as the Hustlin’ Tigers had balanced scoring with four in double figures.  Thorne and Fisher followed with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

Blankenship finished with 24 points to lead the Redskins while Harrison was next with 13 and Harig with 11.  Jackson Williams was next with nine points.

Howard finished the game with an unofficial 27-22 advantage in rebounds after both teams had a dozen each in the first half.  Dixon, Bowens, Thorne and Fisher all claimed five for Howard while Harrison snagged 10 for the Redskins and Blankenship five.

SUMMARY
HOWARD  14  18  18  21  --  71
LOUDON   16  17  12  17  --  62

HOWARD (71) –
Greer 7, Dixon 16, Jenkins 5, Thorne 15, Bowens 16, Fisher 10, Hall 2, Dupree.
LOUDON (62) – Harig 11, Blankenship 24, Williams 9, Houser, Mallo 5, Harrison 13.
3-POINT GOALS: Howard 5 (Dixon, Thorne, Bowens 2, Fisher); Loudon 3 (Williams 3).

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

 

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