CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – William Workman Gymnasium was well-defended on Tuesday night as both Clarksville High basketball teams scored decisive wins over the visiting Cougars of Dickson County in the home opener. The boys, who are returning from a berth in last season’s state tournament, coasted to a 71-51 victory. The girls also led the whole way with a final score of 71-55.
Boys basketball
Senior Jahiem Berry scored the first three buckets, pushing the Wildcats to an 8-3 lead early. Senior JJ Wheat knocked down the next two and Clarksville never looked back. When coach Ted Young had to resort to the bench early due to foul trouble, Kellen Howard drove in a pair of threes to remove any doubts about the home team’s depth.
The contest went to halftime with Clarksville leading Dickson 35-22. Immediately after the break, Arnett Hines took a Wildcat steal the distance for a statement dunk as if to snuff out any hopes the Cougars had for a comeback.
Without much more theatrics, the lead steadily grew until Clarksville won 71-51. They were comfortable on offense, moved the ball well, and worked hard on defense, something Young said they were working on in practice.
“This was a team that we thought about getting some tape on, to see what they had. But this time of year, we don’t watch what the opponents do, we’re really concerned with what Clarksville High’s doing. We’ve had some very energetic practices, really working on our defensive structure…If I had one really big positive tonight, the quickness and awareness on the ball was very good for us defensively, against a really good Dickson team.”
“That team’s gonna really improve as they get into it; they’ve got a new coach and just haven’t gotten his system down yet.” Young then pivoted back to his team, saying, “But we also did an excellent job on the defensive rebounding – when they missed a shot, they only got one shot. If we can continue to do that, we’ll be able to hold opponents down below 50 points.
“We’ve got four seniors that have been with us for a while. Jahiem Berry, Arnett Hines, Joseph Schreiber Rivera, and JJ Wheat … those four, they’ve played together since they were freshmen. Last year, those four were all in the state tournament run, so they played six more games than most teams played last year – in the gritty part of the season, in the postseason – so they know the little things it takes to win ball games.
“Chasing down the loose balls – we dove on the floor three times tonight. Making sure the other team doesn’t get a wide open shot on the offensive end. Our fast break was really on cue tonight, I thought our conditioning that we do and our drills every day really benefitted us down the stretch here.”
Jahiem Berry led the Wildcats with 19 points; JJ Wheat had 16; Arnett Hines, Joseph Schreiber, and Kellen Howard each notched 10; Jabari Jolley scored 4; and Shane McDivitt threw in 2 more.
Clarksville hits the road with a Thursday match at Green Hill.
Girls basketball
An outsider would not know from looking that this team entered the game with injuries keeping four players on the bench, because those who played looked like veterans. Sophomore standout Imari Berry set the tone from the opening possession and the Lady Wildcats controlled the paint on both ends of the floor. Rebounds, layups, and Cougar turnovers were plentiful, while Clarksville scored in transition with ease.
The lead was 25-9 at the end of the first quarter, but then Clarksville opened the court more by draining long two-pointers to start the second period. As the Dickson defense stretched out to cover more ground, the Wildcats took advantage of the gaps and went right back down low. By the half, their lead had grown to 44-23.
Dickson’s adjustments at halftime showed some promise in the third quarter as they began to sink threes. A technical foul on Clarksville, and two made free throws as a result, also helped to narrow the lead to 14 at the end of the quarter, 55-41.
Dickson continued whittling away throughout the fourth quarter, down to an 11-point gap with two minutes remaining, but Clarksville held strong. Dickson had not committed enough fouls to send the Wildcats to the free throw line, and the home team continued making buckets, sealing the deal in their first home contest.
Imari Berry finished with 27 points; Angel Martin and Alexis Wimberly with 12; Ella Moore contributed 6; Jo Harris chipped in 5; Kate Howard had 3; Brystal Calhoun, Ella Muiznieks, and Gracie Ziegler added 2 each.
Reflecting on the win, coach Brian Rush said, “We were really happy – we’re a strong team, we’ve got a lot of good players, a lot of depth. … The girls stepped up and played well. We had three girls in double figures, which I think is a real positive for us.”
He continued, “Our posts are young, and I thought they did a great job on the boards. Ella Moore and Ella Muiznieks – this was their first true varsity experience, and I thought they passed that test with flying colors.”
When asked about the slowly shrinking lead in the second half, Rush praised the Lady Cougars. “Dickson’s a great program, very well coached, and they made some great 3rd quarter adjustments and hit their shots. I thought that was probably the difference early on – our defense, we were more intent on what we were doing, and we dictated the shots they took. I thought in the third quarter, they did a great job of coming out and saying, ‘These are the shots we’re gonna take.’ And when you do that, you’re gonna be more successful.”