Drew Williams had never seen such a rowdy student section.
While Soddy-Daisy’s packed gymnasium on Senior Night provided a daunting home court advantage, it could not stop Central’s junior shooting guard from having a career-best night.
The Purple Pounders (12-13, 9-3 district) extended their District 6-AAA win streak to seven straight as Williams scored 37 points in Tuesday’s 80-68 three-overtime victory. In the second quarter alone he scored 16 points — and added 11 more in the overtime periods — while draining five 3-pointers on the night.
“This win is way up there along with our home win over East Hamilton recently,” said Williams, who made 8-of-10 free throws. “I have never seen a crowd like this one before. I wouldn’t say I was trying to shut them up, but I wouldn’t have enjoyed this night as much if we didn’t walk away from here with a win.”
Soddy-Daisy senior Shaun Pangle provided also offensive fireworks as he matched Williams with five 3-pointers and scored 20 of his 29 points in the first half. Nathan Landtroop made a big basket at the end of regulation to force the first of three overtimes.
Ronye Watson, Kelsean Patillo and Matthew Sharpe combined for 38 points for Central, which has a region tournament berth locked up as the No. 2 seed going into next weekend’s district tournament at East Ridge.
STARS OF THE NIGHT
Zane Restelli, Baylor: The Red Raiders (15-6, 5-1 region) took control of the top spot in the Division II-AA East Region standings with two league games left to play as Restelli led the way with 25 points and five 3-pointers in a 64-57 home win over Knoxville Catholic.
Cash Coates, Walker Valley: Coates hit the go-ahead free throw in overtime, while the Mustangs did not allow a single point in the four-minute overtime period to land a 47-44 road victory over Bradley Central. Coates finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for Walker Valley (17-9, 7-5 district).
Derrick Roberson, Chattanooga Prep: The 6-foot-3 freshman guard made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points for the Sentinels (22-7) in their 87-36 road win over Tennessee Christian Prep.
Cooper Sexton, Ringgold: He had 12 of his game-high 31 points in the third quarter as the Tigers (10-14, 8-6) ended their regular season with a 74-65 win over Gordon Lee. Ringgold will be the fourth seed in the upcoming region tournament at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe.
Carlee Lowry, Signal Mountain: The dominant sophomore forward, who averages 20 points and over eight rebounds per game, scored 19 points in a 54-42 road victory over East Hamilton to seal the regular season district title for Signal (22-5, 11-1).
Anthony Bonner, Red Bank: The Lions (16-12, 8-4 district) picked up their seventh straight win as Bonner scored a game-high 19 points in a 68-59 home win over East Ridge.
Donovan McDaniel, Sonoraville: He scored 22 points as the Phoenix (18-7, 7-3) earned a 61-60 road win over Heritage to claim the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Region 7-AAAA tournament.
Kaden Herman, East Hamilton: He made four of his six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter on the way to a game-high 26 points in the Hurricanes’ 77-54 win over Signal Mountain.
Ella Dotson, Murray County: She had a game-high 20 points as the Lady Indians completed a 12-0 run through Region 7-AA with a 54-22 win over North Murray.