Beyoncé's 'Cowboy Carter' is here. Let's discuss the collaborators, track list and more
SPORTS

6 things from Greenbrier's basketball split with Cheatham Co.

Dean Fox
For The Times
Basketball

GREENBRIER -- The beat kept on for the Cheatham County girls basketball team Friday night. It also kept gathering momentum for the Greenbrier boys.

Cheatham's girls, ranked No. 2 in the state Class AA Associated Press poll, ran their record to 18-1 with a 53-12 win over Greenbrier's girls while Greenbrier's boys withstood a second-half rally to beat the Cubs, 56-45, for their fourth straight victory.

Here are six takeaways from the games:

Ranking? What ranking?

Cheatham County has lost only to Class AAA power Wilson Central this season and had no problem on Friday night, scoring 39 straight first-half points in rolling to a 41-3 halftime lead.

Lady Cubs coach Jim Gibbs is downplaying his team's ranking.

"I have yet to mention it to my team," Gibbs said. "It's somebody's opinion. I don't even know who voted on it. But my thought is you have to do it on the floor. It's not on paper on in the press, so you've got to keep your mind set on your opponent."

"It comes up at school," added guard Macy Douglas, "but it doesn't come up much. We just take into practice that we have a target on our back and we have to get better."

One game at a time

The Lady Cubs (5-0 in District 9-AA) have shown tremendous focus, with their only close calls a 52-48 win over Westmoreland and a 52-51 win over East Nashville, the defending state champion.

"They're really good competitors," Gibbs said. "They hate to lose. They have to be really loose to play, so I have to find that mind-set myself. They play well together, and they've played together a long time."

Cheatham was 22-9 last year, losing in the sectional to CPA.

"I think it was pretty motivating," Douglas said. "It pushed it to where we don't want to lose at the same point again this year. We want to continue on."

Help on the way

Greenbrier (9-7, 1-4) has lost six straight, being held under 20 points in four of those games. The Lady Bobcats should be healthier soon, and that figures to help.

Two starters and a key player off the bench have missed significant time because of injuries.

"Our senior point guard and co-captain, Caitlyn Turner, we hope she'll be back in a couple of weeks," coach Carl Miller said. "We lost our starting post player and she'll be back in a couple of weeks, and we lost our backup post player with a torn ACL."

Holding on and pushing back

The Greenbrier boys watched Cheatham County whittle a 13-point deficit to 34-32, but then pushed the lead back out and went on to win by double figures.

Bobcats coach Clint Mason was asked if his team would have been able to hang on in previous years.

"Probably not," he answered. "I think this team is learning how to win, and that's what we have lacked the last couple of years."

Austin Richardson and Bailey Young had 13 points apiece while Jace Dersewah added 10.

"I think it's just how our program is changing," Young said.

Four in a row

Greenbrier (8-8, 2-3) last won four straight games as it came down the stretch of the 2013-14 season.

"It just feels awesome," Dersewah said. "I don't know how else to describe it, but it feels good because we're coming together. We have really good chemistry. We've known each other since we were little."

The winning streak includes a win at White House Heritage, which had been knocking on the door of the Class AA state rankings.

"I think we're just tired of losing and it's really motivating. us," Dersewah said.

Cubs still fighting

Cheatham County (4-13, 1-4) has lost five straight, but the Cubs have only been blown out once in that span.

Matthew Mayberry had 14 points for the Cubs on Friday.

"We've had trouble scoring," Cheatham coach Josh Stuart said, "but the one thing about us is that we're never going to give up. We're going to try and be tough and bring it defensively and box out, and that's something we're going to try and instill in all our guys."