Slideshow: Sectional Basketball
All season, the Howard boys’ basketball team has had its eyes on another trip to the TSSAA Class AA state tournament.
And the Hustlin’ Tigers earned their second consecutive trip to Murfreesboro with a 58-44 win over White House in a state sectional game Monday night at Howard.
The state quarterfinals start March 12 at Middle Tennessee State University. White House, a quarterfinalist last year, ended this season at 19-8.
“We’ve been striving for this all year,” said Howard’s Brandon Allen, who had 15 points and eight rebounds. “We not only want to go, but we want to win it all for the first time for Howard. And now we have three more games left to do it.”
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Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell-- White House High School's Garrett Wood, 55, tries to block Howard's Darius Ricks, 15, in the first half of the Class AA state sectional game at Howard High School.
Howard extended a 27-21 halftime lead in the third quarter with a 10-1 run led by Allen, who added six steals and three blocks. Dominique Taylor also scored 15 points for the Hustlin’ Tigers, while Darius Ricks totaled 10.
“We were hoping to have a run like that,” Howard coach Walter McGary said. “For awhile, our quickness was out of sync and they were trying to beat them down the floor. I told the guys we had to utilize our quickness and make them come out of that by making the extra pass.”
Rogers Gaines led the Blue Devils with 16 points. Last year, the Blue Devils beat East Ridge in overtime in a state sectional.
In addition to reaching the state tournament, the Howard squad was also motivated by a poll in The Tennessean, where the Hustlin’ Tigers were top-ranked in the state in AA.
“White House is an awesome team and well-coached, but we came out to do it,” Allen said. “We had it all on our backs because of that poll.”
Last year, Howard lost to eventual state runner-up Mitchell, but McGary felt his players benefited from the experience.
“What hurt us last year was illness, and hopefully we won’t have that this year,” McGary said. “I also have more options. I have about 10-12 players I can put in when the other guys need a break.
“I have better personnel, and nothing beats having the experience. We’re relying on the experience of what they went through last year.”
n Livingston Academy 75, McMinn Central 58: At Livingston, Chase Dunn scored 30 points with four 3-pointers as the Wildcats (30-4) secured their first trip to the state tournament since 1997.
Deven Ramsey had a double-double for Livingston Academy with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Matthew Harper led McMinn Central (23-9) with 15 points, and Michael Nicolo added 14.
Todays paper was AWESOME..... front page were RED BANK and HOWARD HIGH two players. The great thing about that is they are cousins. I have been waiting on an write up on those two for awhile. They both are seniors and they both lead there teams last year in scorin they both are outstanding basketball and football players. They both move there team and mold there where they are today. I LOVE BOTH OF THEM AND WISH THEm BEST IN THE STATE. AS TIM BENDFORD SAYS WE ARE STATEBOUND...BABY AND D. RICKS SAYS WE GOIN TO THE STATE BABY.
FROM THERE NUMBER FANS BIG COUSIN DANIELLE
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