COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - It came down to the wire, but the Walker Valley Mustangs advanced to the Region 3-AAA boys' basketball final by clipping the Cookeville Cavaliers 60-55 Tuesday night at Cookeville High School.
The Mustangs will play Thursday at Cookeville High against their county rival, Bradley Central. Bradley's Bears beat White County 76-66 in another game that was tight till the end.
After a 14-14 first quarter in the Walker Valley game, the back-and-forth continued until Cookeville missed some opportunities late in the second quarter. The Mustangs led 31-26 at halftime and maintained a one-point margin after three periods.
They ran the clock down as much as possible in the fourth. No matter how close the Cavs got, they missed opportunities to tie the game or take the lead down the stretch. The Mustangs capitalized and secured the victory at the foul line, sinking nine of 13 free throws and outscoring the Cavs 15-11 in the fourth quarter.
Josh Jones scored 20 points for Walker Valley, while Bryce Nunnally scored 15 and Kenny Bunton added 10.
Bradley made a fourth-quarter surge to create its 10-point final margin.
The first quarter was a perfect example of how the rest of the game would go as the Bears and the Sparta team went point-for-point for a 17-17 tie. Bradley then hit 10 of 11 free throws in edging the Warriors 15-12 in the second quarter for a three-point lead.
Coming out of the break, the Warriors and the Bears continued to go back and forth with the lead changing hands repeatedly. But White County ultimately outscored the Bears 16-11 in the third quarter and took a 45-43 advantage into the final period.
In the fourth quarter, the Bears jumped out to a 10-point lead but let the Warriors cut the deficit to three points with under two minutes to go. Despite some spotty free-throw shooting by the Bears, they managed to hold off the Warriors' comeback and outscore them 33-21 for the win.
Bradley got three 3-point baskets and 25 points from Bradley McCurdy. Tyrell Priner scored 15 points and Cole Copeland added 10.