WHITE HOUSE Westmoreland High sophomore guard Dylan Duffer has gradually earned more playing time as the season has progressed.
He made the most of his action on Monday evening, scoring a career-high 12 points as the second-seeded Eagles overcame a 16-point deficit in a 48-44 victory over Harpeth in the District 9-AA Tournament consolation game at White House Heritage High School.
“I’m finally getting to know the guys a little better and am more comfortable playing with them,” Duffer said.
He was pressed into more extensive action than normal on Monday as Westmoreland senior guard Caleb Graves picked up his fourth foul midway through the third period, sending him to the bench. Caleb Graves eventually fouled out with 1:28 remaining.
Westmoreland High senior guard Caleb Graves dribbles to the basket during second-quarter action. Graves scored five points.
“It’s tough,” Duffer said. “I feel that Caleb is a big leader on our team. When he sits down, somebody has to step up. The guys coming off the bench did it tonight.”
Duffer came off of the bench to score seven of his career-high 12 points in the second half, and senior teammate Landon Dunigan also had a pair of interior baskets in the fourth quarter.
“Dylan grew up tonight for us,” Eagle head coach Jason Graves said. “The stage was big, and he didn’t shy away from it. In a couple of his earlier games, I thought he was a little timid. He looked like he wanted to be in the game tonight. I thought he may have been the difference.”
The Indians scored the final four points of the first half and first eight of the second half, which included a four-point play from Jake Gibbs. That gave Harpeth a 35-19 lead.
“I don’t know that we were mentally ready to play early,” Jason Graves said. “The first two or three things they did, we talked about it and saw it on film today. We knew it was coming. We let 11 (senior guard Zane Hutton) shoot a couple of threes, and after that, he had the feel-good going and was hard to guard.
“Offensively, we just didn’t make any shots. We got looks. It may be part of coming off a tough loss to White House (in Saturday evening’s semifinal round). Both teams were coming off tough losses. We talked about how that the team that was going to win was the one who wanted to play the most.”
Westmoreland High senior forward Griffin Garrison releases a second-quarter shot in the lane over Harpeth senior Ashton Maddox.
Westmoreland (19-12) didn’t score in the second half until junior forward Colton Pippin made two free throws with 2:55 remaining in the third period. That started a 17-2 run.
“Coach just told us, ‘stay calm and start chipping away at the lead, and slowly but surely, you’ll start getting closer,’” Duffer said. “We finally did.”
Pippin scored seven of his 11 points during the surge, while Duffer made a pair of 3-pointers, along with Dunigan’s baskets.
“Landon Dunigan had a couple of big baskets during that stretch run, and on the defensive end, I thought we were limiting them to one (shot) and done,” Jason Graves – whose squad suffered a 50-48 loss at Harpeth on Jan. 15 before claiming a 52-48 win over the visiting Indians on Feb. 11 – said. “That was big.”
After Duffer’s third and final 3-pointer capped the run and gave his squad a 38-37 lead with 5:43 remaining, neither team scored for the next 3:28.
However, the lead changed hands three times down the stretch, and there was one tie.
Eagle senior Dalton Leath penetrated into the lane and slipped a pass to Pippin for the go-ahead layin with 67 seconds remaining.
With Harpeth (12-18) misfiring from three-point range, Duffer, junior forward Lucas Garrison and senior guard Zeke Webb combined to make 5 of 6 free-throw attempts over the final 37 seconds.
“It’s great, losing and then coming back with a win and getting ready to go play a tough team down in Nashville somewhere,” Duffer said. “It’s going to be a tough ballgame, but I think we’re going to be ready to play.”
Duffer and Leath scored team-highs of 12 points.
Westmoreland High senior guard Dalton Leath releases a first-quarter jump shot over the outstretched arm of Harpeth senior Zane Hutton. Leath scored 12 points in the Eagles’ 48-44, come-from-behind victory over Harpeth on Monday evening.
Hutton poured in 20 of his game-high 22 points in the first half.
“I’m very pleased with this team,” Jason Graves said. “I told them in the timeout that Westmoreland does not quit. We’re going to play right to the buzzer. Early in the third quarter, I thought we were trying to get it all back at one time. We finally worked our way back into it one play at a time.
“Having 19 wins, finishing third in the district (tournament), second in the district (during the regular season) … nobody expected that out of this team. They deserve all of the credit for it, because they just keep on playing.”
Westmoreland will travel to Nashville on Saturday evening to face the No. 2 seed from District 9-AA – either Maplewood or Whites Creek – in a Region 5-AA Tournament quarterfinal game.
Reach Craig Harris at charris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.
HARPETH (44) –Zane Hutton 22, Jake Gibbs 7, Cannon Johnson 4, Will Miniat 4, T.C. Newton 4, Nathan Bledsoe 3.
WESTMORELAND (48) – Dylan Duffer 12, Dalton Leath 12, Colton Pippin 11, Caleb Graves 5, Landon Dunigan 4, Lucas Garrison 2, Zeke Webb 2.
Half: 27-19, Harpeth. Three-point goals: Harpeth 7 (Hutton 4, Gibbs 2, Bledsoe 1), Westmoreland 5 (Duffer 3, Graves 1 Leath 1). Records: Harpeth 12-18, Westmoreland 19-12.