SPORTS

The breakdown: White House sets up cross-town clash for 9-AA title

Tyler Graves
For USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
L-R Chatham's Birby Jones guards White House's Bradley Cole in White House, TN on Sat. Feb. 18, 2017.

The White House boys basketball team managed to withstand a late comeback attempt to hold off Cheatham County for a 65-58 win in the District 9-AA semifinal.

Breakdown of the contest:

Records: White House 15-15 overall, Cheatham County 6-21.

Nuts and bolts: The game remained tight during the first half with six combined lead changes by both teams. White House pulled away in the third quarter, coming out with a 14-4 run to turn a 3-point halftime lead into a 13-point lead, capped off by a 3-pointer from Jared Ward. Ward, along with Bradley Cole, carried the Blue Devils throughout the night with a combined 50 points.

Turning point: With the game seemingly in White House’s hands, Cheatham County showed they still had some fight left. Despite trailing 53-42 midway through the fourth quarter, the Cubs came back to make things interesting, going on a 14-3 run to tie the game at 56. However, with the game tied at 58 and under a minute remaining in the game, several fouls were called on Cheatham County, including a technical foul. This gave White House several free throws to put the game away and seal the victory.

Cheatham's Britman Barber shoots over White House's Andrew Nixon in White House on Sat. Feb. 18, 2017.

Leading scorers: White House: Jared Ward 27, Bradley Cole 23, Bryant Reynolds 7. Cheatham County: Sterlin Jenkins 15, Matthew Mayberry 12, Lucas Harlan 9.

Quotable: “I’m very proud of them,” said White House assistant coach Tyler Welch, filling in for head coach Gary Smith, who missed his second consecutive game due to illness. “I coached a lot of these guys in middle school. I really trust them and I think that they’re resilient. That’s two games they’ve kind of faltered by when it came down to it they really rose up and made some free throws. I’m just proud to death of them.”