WHITE HOUSE White House High junior Bradley Cole had two points at halftime of Tuesday evening’s game against visiting Gallatin.
White House High junior Bradley Cole elevates for a first-quarter layin as he draws contact from Gallatin junior Dakota Bailey. Cole scored 28 points in the Blue Devils’ 94-83 victory.
The second half told a different story.
Cole hit seven 3-pointers over the final two periods, finishing with 28 points to help the Blue Devils capture a 94-83 victory over the Green Wave.
It was White House’s second victory in as many nights.
“I got in foul trouble early, so that kept me out a bit,” Cole said. “We started off kind of slow, but we picked it up and started playing our game.”
White House head coach Gary Smith added, “He had to sit early, because he had early fouls. I hope he learned from that. We did some stuff that we’re going to have to learn from.”
Cole, classmate Malik Morgan and senior Luke Hopkins combined for 70 of White House’s points. Both Morgan and Hopkins scored 21 points in a high-paced contest that saw both teams connect on 11 3-pointers.
“That’s just a huge win for our school,” Smith said. “(Gallatin head coach Bobby) Luna does a great job, and they’ve got a lot of tradition over there. We played really, really well, and it still came down right to the last few minutes.”
Gallatin High junior Dezmond Chambers elevates for a layin as White House juniors Zach Baldwin (35) and Bradley Cole defend during third-quarter action.
The Blue Devils (3-2) made 16 of 19 free throws in the contest, including 10 of 13 in the first half. White House was in the double bonus (shooting two free throws on non-shooting fouls) by the final minute of the first quarter, after Gallatin (0-4) had been whistled for 10 team fouls.
“Defensively, we had too many fouls in the first half,” Luna said. “If (White House) doesn’t get a parade to the free-throw line, we probably have a chance to stretch it out, because we were playing really good on the offensive end. We played well on the defensive end, too, but just too many fouls.”
Cole hit four 3-pointers in the third quarter, with three of them coming over a span of 1:58 as White House turned a 43-37 halftime deficit into a 64-55 lead after three quarters. Cole even threw in a dunk for good measure as White House’s home crowd became louder with each of his scores.
“The second half, I think because of all the fouls in the first half, it took away from our aggressiveness,” Luna said. “Defensively, we weren’t quite as good. We still managed to score some, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Morgan guided the Blue Devils early, providing nine first-quarter points before Hopkins dropped in 10 points in the second quarter. White House didn’t seem to be suffering any hangover from playing on Monday evening.
White House High senior Luke Hopkins shoots a fall-away jump shot under pressure from Gallatin junior Marlon Mitchell during second-quarter action. Hopkins scored 21 points.
“I think we all felt pretty fresh,” Cole said. “We all got a pretty good rest at the end of the fourth quarter last night.”
Gallatin was without junior post player Mark Brummett for the second half after he went down with a lower-body injury with 20 seconds left in the first half. Brummett had scored 12 points until his premature exit.
Zyun Mason led the Green Wave with 19 points, including three 3-pointers.
“They’re playing really hard, but I’ve got to do a better job of finding things that give us the best chance to win,” Gallatin head coach Bobby Luna said. “We’re playing a lot of guys right now, and that sometimes leads to inconsistency. But I like playing a lot of guys, and they like playing obviously. We’ve just got to a little bit better job of being efficient at both ends of the floor.”
Both teams combined for 59 points in the final quarter, with White House scoring 30.
“The guys aren’t used to being in the position of being ahead,” Smith said. “Maybe we’re starting to learn to win. It’s a habit you have to acquire.”
Cole believes that the Blue Devils are in the acquisition phase early in the season.
“We’re playing better than we have in years,” Cole said. “I think we can really do something this year.”
Gallatin High junior Jordan Mason passes around White House sophomore Bryant Reynolds during second-quarter action. Mason scored 10 points.
Senior Gavin Herrell chipped in 10 points for White House.
Sophomore Collin Minor scored 15 for Gallatin, while junior Jordan Mason scored 10.
The two teams will meet again in Gallatin on Dec. 14.
Gallatin hosts Clarksville on Monday, while White House will visit Portland on Tuesday.
>> The Blue Devils claimed a 73-48 win over visiting East Robertson on Monday evening.
White House led 16-7 after one quarter, 41-21 at the half and 53-38 entering the fourth quarter.
Morgan scored 27 points, while Cole finished with 18 after hitting four of the Blue Devils’ 11 3-pointers. Other White House scorers included freshman Jared Ward (11), freshman Cole Pond (9), junior Noah Cook (4), Hopkins (2) and sophomore Bryant Reynolds (2).
Seth Remo led the Indians with 14 points.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.
GALLATIN (83) – Zyun Mason 19, Collin Minor 15, Mark Brummett 12, Jordan Mason 10, Marlon Mitchell 9, Nigel Black 6, Dakota Bailey 5, Dezmond Chambers 3, Keshawn High 2, Anthony Woods 2.
WHITE HOUSE (94) – Bradley Cole 28, Luke Hopkins 21, Malik Morgan 21, Gavin Herrell 10, Zach Baldwin 6, Logan Trimmer 6, Bryant Reynolds 2.
Half: 41-37, Gallatin. Three-point goals: Gallatin 11 (Minor 4, Z. Mason 3, Black 2, Bailey 1, Mitchell 1), White House 11 (Cole 7, Herrell 2, Hopkins 2). Records: Gallatin 0-4, White House 3-2.