Jr. Cyclones repel Panthers to snag a pair of wins
Published 3:44 am Sunday, December 8, 2019
1 of 7
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Will Churchill dishes the basketball off to a teammate.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Luke Whaley flies toward the rim for a layup against the Panthers in TAD's win Thursday evening.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Jeriah Griffin takes the basketball to the hoop in the Jr. Cyclones win over Church Hill.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Mason Ball goes back up strong for two points in TAD's game against Church Hill on Thursday.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Will Churchill rips down a defensive rebound against Church Hill Thursday evening.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
This TAD cheerleader is head over heels for her T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclone basketball team.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders
Luke Whaley works the basketball into the front court for TAD.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com
The T.A. Dugger Jr. Cyclones had to battle like mad for three quarters to break free of the clutches of the Church Hill Panthers but once the Jr. Cyclones got their separation there was nothing that the Panthers could do as TAD went on to win 52-47.
The first quarter set the tone for the rest of the contest as the teams battled to a 14-13 TAD lead when the first horn sounded. Jeriah Griffin and Mason Ball were taking care of business for the Jr. Cyclones in the first six minutes as Griffin tickled the twine for eight points and Ball added six to help build the early lead.
Church Hill, however, sharpened the claws and scratched their way back in front at the intermission as the Panthers turned the tables in the second period by outscoring the home-standing Jr. Cyclones 14-11 in the period to take a 27-25 lead to the locker room at the half.
Haynes led the charge for Church Hill in the quarter by scoring eight of the 14 points. McClain added four points.
TAD got a trey each from Luke Whaley and Zackery Bates to stay with arm’s length of the visitors.
The turning point in the contest came in the third quarter when the Jr. Cyclones managed to cage the Panthers offensively allowing only six points to Church Hill while scoring 16 points of their own to get some breathing room heading into the final six minutes of play leading 41-33.
Church Hill had one last run in them cutting the lead to two points with about three minutes left to play before Coach Barry Johnson called a couple of timeouts to settle his team and then watched as the Jr. Cyclones pushed back out to take the five-point victory.
Four players reached double figures for TAD in a balanced offensive showing paced by Ball’s 14-point effort. Griffin finished with 12 points while Will Churchill and Whaley recorded 10 points each.
Bates finished his night with three points while Joshua Hayes connected on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
Haynes finished the game with 16 points to lead the onslaught for the Panthers.
Junior Varsity
T.A. Dugger…..39
Church Hill……34
In boys junior varsity play, the Jr. Cyclones opened the night up with a five-point win over the Panthers as Jaden Wallen was unstoppable sinking 17 points in the win.
Jackson Buckles dropped in seven points while Andrew Barnett totaled five in the win.
TAD also received three points apiece from Kaydn Gouge and Kyron Smalls. Sulley Perkins closed out the scoring for the Jr. Cyclones with two points.
Cox scored 10 to lead Church Hill while Miller collected seven points.
