Siegel cruises past Creek, reaches title game

MURFREESBORO – Siegel guard Deante Miller grabbed a loose ball and chucked up a one-handed three-pointer to beat the buzzer, giving the Stars a 15-point lead headed into the fourth quarter.

That just about sums up the night that the Stars had offensively, cruising to a 72-56 victory over Stewarts Creek on Saturday night at Johnny Parsley Memorial Gymnasium to advance to the District 7-AAA championship game.

Siegel, the third seed of the tournament, plays top-seed Blackman at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. It marks the third straight year the two teams have met for the title. Blackman has won the past two meetings.

Stewarts Creek plays Oakland at 6 p.m. in the consolation.

The Red Hawks got in foul trouble early on, leading to center Jy'lan Washington fouling out in the third quarter.

With Stewarts Creek's big man out and Siegel in the bonus for a majority of the third and all of the fourth quarter, Siegel converted a multitude of free throws in the late stretch of the game to open up a sizable lead.

"A lot of our points came from the free throw line in the second half," Siegel coach Ben Dotson said. "We were fortunate to make those free throws. We had some big shots from some big players."

Miller led all scorers with 20 points on the night. D.J. McGee finished with 14 points on the night in relief of Braxton Eddings and his foul trouble.

Brian Normand tallied 13 points, and Greedy Howse added 10 to round out Siegel's double-digit scorers.

Stewarts Creek was led by T.J. York, who dropped 13 points in the loss. Richard Vaughn and Desmond Sales added seven.

Stewarts Creek has lost three straight, including two to Siegel. The Stars have won six straight games.

Siegel 72, Stewarts Creek 56

Siegel 14 13 24 21 – 72

Stewarts Creek 13 15 8 20 – 56

Siegel: Deante Miller 20, D.J. McGee 14, Brian Normand 13, LaRich Howse 10, Rob LaLance 7, Braxton Eddings 6, Jabari Gage 2.

Stewarts Creek: T.J. York 13, Richard Vaughn 7, Desmond Sales , Jalen Fearn 6, Tyler Conley 6, Paul Kaelin 5, Jy'lan Washington 5, Cameron Marsh 3, Brayden Jackson 2, James Franklin 2.