Lexington loses Tiger battle to fall short of state
LEXINGTON – Ripley guard Chad Culbreath shot the ball from far away from the basket to avoid a situation where the clock would stop in the final seconds even though his team led Lexington by five points with virtually no time remaining.
His shot fell through the hoop for another three points and a 60-52 win for the Tigers from Lauderdale County as they escaped Lexington with the win and a spot in the Class AA state tournament that begins next week.
“Chad has scored 1,000 points for us just this season, and he thinks every shot he puts up will go in,” said Ripley head coach Lonnie Starks, who won his first sectional game in three tries as a head coach on Thursday. “He’s scored so many points that he’s right more times than not, but there were times when his shooting went cold tonight.
“But he’s a shooter, so we need him shooting.”
Ripley overcame late shooting woes in a back-and-forth fourth quarter with Lexington to pull away in the final minute to advance Ripley to the state quarterfinals.
For first-year Lexington head coach Andrew Hicks, he said the list of achievements of his team this season made the loss that much more difficult to take.
“We’ve accomplished some things this year that hadn’t been done in a long time around here,” Hicks said. “Region champions, district runners-up, two straight years making the sectionals, winning a lot of big games … that’s why this hurts so much.
“We know how hard these kids have worked for everything they’ve accomplished, and we were ready to accomplish a few more things next week. It didn’t work out for us tonight.”
Lexington led 50-47 with two minutes remaining, but the hosting Tigers made a string of mistakes like throwing the ball away and giving up possession on Ripley steals that gave the visiting team chances to score.
Ripley took advantage of those opportunities by scoring seven straight points and taking a 54-50 lead with 33 seconds to go.
But Ripley’s shooting from the field and the free throw line went cold for a few seconds of game action as Lexington cut Ripley’s lead to two by going 2-for-4 from the foul line on consecutive trips. That was the final points Lexington scored.
Ripley made one of two its next trip to the line for a three-point lead. Lexington failed to score on the next possession, and Ripley got the ball down the court quickly for a quick fast-break lay-up and a five-point lead with 11 seconds left.
A steal and Culbreath’s final 3-pointer set the final score in stone as Ripley moves on after the eight-point win.
“Give Ripley credit because they were getting after loose balls and rebounds and everything like that,” Hicks said. “And we had a bad shooting night.
“There are some nights where your shots just won’t fall. Unfortunately, this was one of those nights.”
Starks said he was proud of the way his team continued to get after those loose balls through the end of the game.
“We said at halftime and before the game that if they want this game more than we do, then they will win,” Starks said. “But we have to want it more than they do if we want to win.
“I know my guys played like they wanted it, and I’m proud of them for it.”
Ripley matches up with Chattanooga Central in the state quarterfinals that begin March 11.
Brandon Shields, 425-9751