Crockett boys hold on late to advance to title game

MEDINA — Crockett County’s Josh Welch did not score the winning basket in the Cavaliers' thrilling 65-64 victory over Westview on Friday night, as Manny Jordan gets the credit for that, but he left no doubt that he is healthy and the leader of this team.

“Josh missed the last two weeks of the regular season with a knee injury,” said Crockett County coach Jerrod Shelton. “We are definitely a different team with him on the floor, and that showed tonight.”

Crockett County (23-5) advances to play top-seeded Dyersburg in the championship game on Monday at South Gibson. Westview plays Obion County in the consolation game.

Welch not only led the team in scoring with 21 points and eight rebounds, but he also took charge of running the offense at times when the Cavaliers were struggling.

“I am the captain of this team and my teammates look to me to lead us,” said Welch. “Tonight, we just came together and played like a team to get the win.”

The winning basket came with 33 seconds on the clock as Jordan grabbed an errant Charger pass under the Crockett County basket and laid the ball in to put the Cavaliers up 65-64.

Westview had a chance to win the game with their last possession, but the Chargers were unable to convert a layup and then a 3-point shot at the buzzer rolled around the rim and out.

In the early going, it looked as though Westview was going to run away from Crockett County as the Charger went out to a 12-point lead in the second quarter behind the shooting of Matt McMillan and Ryan Sams from the outside and B.J. White driving to the basket.

But the Cavaliers became more aggressive on offense and defense, as they outscored Westview 18-7, which included a 3-pointer by Damian Nance at the buzzer, to end the first half down one point (36-35).

“Damian’s basket at the end of the half gave us the confidence going into halftime that we could win this game,” said Shelton. “We came out of the halftime knowing we could win this game.”

The Cavaliers' Nolan Holyfield played a key role inside for the win as he scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds.

McMillan led the Chargers with 19 points followed by White and Ty Kelly with 15 points each.

Dyersburg 78,

Obion County 55

In the first semifinal of the night, top-seeded Dyersburg used a trapping defense and hot-shooting offense to pull away from Obion County in the second half to advance to the title game.

Dyersburg was led by Jordan Mosely with 19 points (five 3-pointers) and Brandon Williams with 14 points (four 3-pointers).  Jadarius Jenkins and D.J. Swift each added 10 points to the Trojan win.