CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville Academy Cougars traveled to Richview Road for a matchup with the Clarksville Wildcats inside William Workman Gymnasium on Thursday. CHS controlled the lead for the entire contest, but not without a late 10-0 Cougar run, which cut the deficit to one. However, Clarksville High made its free throws down the stretch and survived for a 54-47 win.

The two teams both had scrappy defensive performances early, keeping each other under their usual averages. But there were flashes, including eight first-half points and two threes for Wildcats junior guard Thomas King, and eight points in that same span for Clarksville Academy forward Jarohn Johnson.

The Wildcats held a slim 25-22 lead at the end of the first 16 minutes of action.

The third quarter saw the Wildcats start to pull away, led by six points from forward Isaac Thornhill in the period. Another three from King put the Wildcats up 13, and they looked to be about to run away with it, continuing to string stops together.

“We’ve revamped some things offensively, and the kids have really bought into it,” said Wildcats head coach Ted Young. “They’ve bought into their roles and know what they’re good at, and it’s paid dividends.”

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It’s never going to be easy against the “cardiac Cougars” though. A 12-0 run in the fourth quarter, capped off by guard Marcell Jackson’s second three-pointer in the quarter, cut the lead to one, 48-47.

The Cougars had to play the foul game down the stretch as the Wildcats executed great inbounds plays, and Clarksville High went 7-7 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, never letting the Cougars score again.

“CHS plays very hard and physical, and they did that better than us tonight,” said Cougars head coach Sean Jones. “We had some opportunities to try to swing the game our way, and we just weren’t able to. Defense kept us in this contest, but offensively we have to find a way to be better.”

“Clarksville Academy has a lot of strengths,” said Young. “You try to take away one, and you have to deal with another, but our guys battled defensively and got stops when they needed to, and not only that, but rebounded to ensure no second chances. Thankfully, our extra free-throw shooting at practice came in handy tonight. We’ve got a long way to go, but we saw some really positive steps tonight.”

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