ASHLAND CITY The White House High boys basketball team had an opportunity to pull into a tie for first place in District 9-AA on Wednesday evening.
However, the Blue Devils couldn’t overcome a slow start, resulting in an 82-76 loss to Cheatham County at Ralph Spangler Gymnasium.
White House High junior center Zach Baldwin elevates to shoot a second-quarter shot over Cheatham County senior Gage Lipscomb. Baldwin scored two points.
“We weren’t scoring (early on),” White House head coach Gary Smith said. “We played catch up the first half. We caught them. Then, we played catch up in the second half, and we didn’t quite catch them. They ran out on us in both halves.
“That game was decided in the first three or four minutes of the first quarter and first two or three minutes of the third quarter … but our guys fought.”
The Blue Devils suffered a 68-50 loss to the visiting Cubs on Dec. 18. Cheatham County senior forward Austin Douglas scored 40 points in the earlier contest, prompting White House to play a triangle-and-two defense at times in an attempt to limit Douglas’ production.
White House High senior point guard Luke Hopkins extends for a reverse layin in front of Cheatham County senior Gage Lipscomb. Hopkins scored eight points.
Douglas sat out the majority of the second quarter on Wednesday after picking up his second foul, but he scored 13 of his team-high 26 points over the final 10 minutes.
“Douglas can do some stuff other players in the league can’t do,” Smith said. “I didn’t think we did a terrible job on him. He made some unbelievable plays and shots. He has a knack for scoring.”
The Cubs scored the game’s first six points on layins and then reeled off the final seven points of the opening period, with senior forward Gage Lipscomb converting a layin at the first-quarter buzzer for a 24-11 lead.
The margin was still at 12 points until Malik Morgan’s three-point play, Logan Trimmer’s 3-pointer and Luke Hopkins’ free throws pulled the Blue Devils to within four points (32-28) at halftime.
However, Cheatham County junior Nate Saunders, junior Matthew Mayberry and senior Nate Goode made three consecutive 3-pointers over the first minute of the second half, quickly extending the lead to 13 points.
“They hit three threes, and we had a turnover,” Smith said. “All of a sudden, we go from four to 13 (points behind). All that ground we gained, we threw it away.
“Two of those players (who made 3-pointers during that stretch) were players we weren’t keying on.”
Saunders sank another 3-pointer at the 5:13 mark of the third period, giving the Cubs their biggest lead (50-34).
White House freshman guard Cole Pond made back-to-back 3-pointers later in the period to pull his squad to within eight points, and classmate Jared Ward sank another 3-pointer with 6:48 remaining to create a three-point margin.
White House High freshman guard Cole Pond elevates for a second-quarter shot over the outstretched arm of Cheatham County junior Matthew Mayberry. Pond scored all eight of his points in the second half.
The Blue Devils actually misfired on a 3-pointer that would have tied the contest, but Cheatham County (16-4 overall, 7-1 in District 9-AA) responded by scoring nine of the next 11 points, with Douglas producing six of those.
White House (11-10, 6-3) didn’t get any closer than eight points until junior guard Bradley Cole dunked in the final seconds.
Cole poured in 27 of his career-high 31 points in the second half, and Morgan scored 18 points.
White House High junior guard Bradley Cole elevates for a second-quarter layin over the outstretched arm of Cheatham County junior Matthew Mayberry. Cole scored 27 of his career-high 31 points in the second half of the Blue Devils’ 82-76 loss on Wednesday evening.
Goode, Mayberry and Saunders all scored 13 points for the Cubs.
Cheatham County won its sixth consecutive game and is attempting to win its fourth consecutive district title.
“They have the swagger,” Smith said. “This is my fourth year at White House, and they’ve won it the first three years. They’ve earned the right to be like that. It’s a credit to Coach (Josh) Stuart and their players. They believe every night they’re going to win. Some of us are still trying to instill that. It’s a hard job. Success breeds success.”
Reach Craig Harris at charris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.
WHITE HOUSE (76) – Bradley Cole 31, Malik Morgan 18, Luke Hopkins 8, Cole Pond 8, Logan Trimmer 6, Jared Ward 3, Zach Baldwin 2.
CHEATHAM COUNTY (82) – Austin Douglas 26, Nate Goode 13, Matthew Mayberry 13, Nate Saunders 13, Gage Lipscomb 8, Lucas Harlan 7, Sterlin Jenkins 2.
Half: 32-28, Cheatham County. Three-point goals: White House 7 (Pond 2, Trimmer 2, Cole 1, Morgan 1, Ward 1), Cheatham County 7 (Saunders 3, Goode 2, Harlan 1, Mayberry 1). Records: White House 11-10 overall, 6-3 in District 9-AA; Cheatham County 16-4, 7-1.