CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – After coming off a near two-week layoff and back-to-back three-point losses, Clarksville boys basketball rebounded in a big way at home on Friday.
The Wildcats received spectacular guard play to snap Northeast’s seven-game winning streak 58-57 and remain unbeaten in District 10-AAA play.
“I thought the first quarter and really the first half set the tone that this game was going to go down to the wire,” said Clarksville boys basketball coach Ted Young. “I thought the defense from both teams was outstanding. Sam is doing a wonderful job with those kids, getting them into his system in just half of a year.
“Our guys have really started to gel together,” Young said. “We have so many capable ball handlers on our team that it’s often difficult for the other team to decide on what type of defense they want to play. Our guys did a great job tonight of recognizing what defense that they were playing against and then trying to accomplish easy baskets.”
Northeast junior Isaiah Farrior entered the contest on a tear offensively. Young shared how his team was able to negate one of the Eagles’ top weapons throughout.
“His teammates always know where he is on the floor,” Young said. “You can see when they bring the ball down the court that they’re already spying him to see where they can get him the ball. When he gets into a shooting rhythm, it’s one of those that you just have to hang on and make sure that you’re scoring on the other end.”
With the second-quarter clock dwindling down, JJ Wheat connected on a step-back three-pointer to not only give the Wildcats a 28-19 lead at the break, but also all of the momentum.
“I thought that he should’ve had a four-point opportunity,” Young said laughingly. “JJ was really smooth on it. That’s one where you go into the locker room and feel like things are going your way right now. We work a lot on winding the clock down. It’s going to happen at least four times in every game. In tight ball games if you can be the last one to hold the ball and get a quality shot off, that’s eight to twelve more points you can possibly tally.”
*Photographer: Michael Rios
Even though CHS is beginning to put a stranglehold on the district, Young knows there is still a lot of ball left to be played.
“We still haven’t even finished the first round,” Young said. “We have to play Kenwood who I think is one of the tallest and longest teams we have in the district. They just don’t have off nights. Then we have to start the second round and that’s when everyone starts looking at the film trying to find weaknesses of the other team and their own strengths. Right now, our goals are really looking more toward the postseason.”
Marcus Averhart scored a team-high 11 points for Northeast while Jalen Hooks scored 10 and Jaylen Bussey added nine for the Eagles.
Wheat led all scorers with 21 points. Jamarco Mimms finished with 15 points while Jaheim McDonald and Nick Keener chipped in seven points each.
Clarksville (9-4, 7-0) travels to take on Kenwood at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Northeast (8-3, 6-2) faces off against Cheatham County Central at 7:30 p.m. Monday on the road.