A quick start and some long shots kept Friday night’s rivalry game at Tennessee Temple from ever looking like one.
The host Crusaders took control early in their District 5-A matchup with Grace Academy, and 11 3-pointers ensured they never lost it as sixth-ranked Temple secured first place in the district with a 66-51 victory.
“We’ve always shot the 3-ball pretty well, and tonight the shots were falling,” Crusaders coach Caleb Marcum said. “We shot (57) percent to their 30 percent, and if you make that many shots, you better win the game.”
Jeremy Sexton and James Kemp each connected on four of his eight attempts from behind the arc, and both Crusaders hit key 3s in the second half after Grace twice cut its deficit to six points. Sexton’s second of the third quarter put Temple up 13, but Terrell Church opened the fourth period with a trey for the Golden Eagles, and another from Jonathan Brown got them within 55-49.
Kemp responded with a 3, and after Grace missed a layup on its next possession, Temple followed its defensive rebound with an offensive one. The Crusaders then found Nathan Pendergrass for a 3-pointer with 4:23 remaining that delivered the final blow to the Golden Eagles, who scored only two points the rest of the way.
“They kicked it back out and nailed a wide-open 3 because we were all standing there watching,” Golden Eagles coach Jon Mattheiss said. “We have to find some kids who want to rebound.
“They shot the ball extremely well, and you can’t keep giving a team like that second and third opportunities. We got outrebounded by a smaller team. Obviously the effort just wasn’t there.”
The Golden Eagles (10-4, 3-1) got 14 points from Brandon Herman, and Fuquan Harper, Church and Patrick Shaughnessy scored 10 apiece.
Sexton totaled 10 assists and 23 points for Temple (13-2, 4-0), while Kemp followed with 14, and the two seniors contributed all of the points in a 10-0 opening run.
“We stressed that the first five minutes of this game were going to be the most important,” Marcum said. “We wanted to come out of the gate fast, and we thought we could guard well enough to keep the lead.”
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