Mustangs capture area title

HENDERSONVILLE The Knox Doss Middle at Drakes Creek boys basketball team didn’t get the opportunity to play in Sumner County Conference Tournament championship game due to snow cancelling the title contest.

Therefore, Mustangs had to settle for Thursday night’s Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association (TMSAA) Area 3 Tournament championship game.

Knox Doss – the tournament host – faced an eight-point deficit for only the second time this season, but the unbeaten Mustangs scored 20 of the final 26 points to capture a 39-33, come-from-behind victory over Mt. Juliet.

“They were excited, because they knew it was a championship game,” Mustang head coach Brent Cothron said. “Since the county tournament got cut short, they got to celebrate a championship in front of their fans.”

The Golden Bears led by two points at halftime, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Gage Wells and Michael Hardy early in the second half extended the advantage to eight points.

The only other time that Knox Doss trailed by eight points this season was when visiting Station Camp scored the first eight points of the Mustangs’ 41-26 victory on Nov. 12.

“I’m really impressed with Will (Pruitt, the Mt. Juliet point guard),” Cothron said. “He runs their team well and attacks the basket well.

“Their game plan of keeping everything in front was good. They handled our (full-court) press and were patient. They run their system well. I respect Jonathan Drake (the Golden Bear head coach). He runs his program well.”

However, Mt. Juliet (13-8) didn’t score for the next five-plus minutes.

Knox Doss (18-0) reeled off the next 14 points, with guard Briston Bennett scoring six of his nine points during the surge. Teammates Max Barnett and Garnett Hollis accounted for the other eight points.

Golden Bear guard Jack Gold made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 2:57 remaining, pulling his squad back to within two points, but Mt. Juliet didn’t score again. A layin from Hollis and two free throws by Colin Woods helped the Mustangs hold on.

Hollis and Jorian Cantrell led the Mustangs offensively with 11 and 10 points.

Pruitt and Riggs Abner provided eight and seven points to lead the Golden Bears.

“This was a huge win for these guys and our program,” Cothron said. “We of course love to play up-tempo. I think the sign of a good team is when you’re able to find a way to win when you’re having to play a half-court, grind-it-out type of game.

“We executed a couple of backdoor plays and a couple of quicks (offensive sets), and we converted those. We got some big rebounds late, and Colin Woods made two free throws. By no means was it perfect, but we made plays. It was huge for us to have to do that and be able to come out with a win.”

Both teams will host sub-sectional contests on Monday evening, with the winners of those games advancing to the Middle Tennessee Sectional Tournament at Murfreesboro’s Central Magnet School.

Reach Craig Harris atcharris@mtcngroup.com or at 615-575-7138. Follow him on Twitter @HarrisGNESports.

MT. JULIET (33) – Will Pruitt 8, Riggs Abner 7, Michael Hardy 5, Gage Wells 5, Zach Delfendahl 3, Jack Gold 3, Josh Keck 2.

KNOX DOSS (39) – Garnett Hollis 11, Jorian Cantrell 10, Briston Bennett 9, Max Barnett 7, Colin Woods 2.

Half: 19-17, Mt. Juliet. Three-point goals: Mt. Juliet 3 (Gold 1, Hardy 1, Wells 1), Knox Doss 1 (Barnett 1). Records: Mt. Juliet 13-8, Knox Doss 18-0.