Wildcats win 59-57 thriller over Columbia

“It took a total team effort,” Welch said. “We played nine guys and everybody made plays and played hard. We didn’t play a clean or good game, but we battled hard… We did what we were supposed to do. That gets us to 4-0 in the district, which was our goal for the night. I’m super proud of our guys.”

With just over two minutes left in the contest, Krys Uselton gave Tullahoma its first lead since the opening quarter. Uselton was able to get a steal and get an easy layup to put the Wildcats up 52-51 with 2:10 remaining in the contest.

Columbia regained control of the matchup on the opposite end of the floor after Ahqzeea Martin was fouled going up for a basket. Martin went on to sink both free throws to put his team up 53-52 with 1:56 left in the contest.

Twenty one seconds later, the Wildcats were back in front, this time for good. Battling against three other players inside the paint, Uselton was able to knock down a shot to give Tullahoma a 54-53 advantage with 1:32 remaining in the period.

Uselton netted 12 points in the win over Columbia, all of which came in the second half. That follows a 29-point effort last Friday at Lawrence County, where the junior guard netted 25 points in the final two quarters.

“Offensively, he really hasn’t been able to get going, which is probably scary for everybody else in the league,” Welch said. “He hasn’t shot the ball great. His determination on Friday night was the key. We went down and had an offensive subpar game and Lawrence County was lighting us up. We just had to grind. He took the ball to the basket and they couldn’t stay in front of him, kind of like tonight.”

Following Uselton’s make for Tullahoma on Tuesday, Columbia was held scoreless on its next two and the Wildcats were able to pad their lead. Ryan Scott hit one of two free-throw attempts for Tullahoma, before Joe Duncan put the Wildcats up 57-53 with 39.9 seconds left in the contest.

The Lions wouldn’t go away though and Cameron Johnson answered with basket to cut Columbia’s deficit down to 57-55. However, Tullahoma once again took a four-point advantage, pulling ahead 59-55 after Scott drilled a pair of free throws with 23.3 seconds remaining on the clock.

After the Lions missed back-to-back shots, Ferdinand Davis was able to garner the rebound for Columbia and was fouled going up for a basket. Davis went on to make one of two free throws to cut the score to 59-56.

On the inbounds play, Tullahoma turned it over and Columbia was able to get possession on its side of the court with 3.2 seconds remaining on the clock. The Wildcats didn’t let the Lions get a shot off, fouling Martin with 2.1 seconds left in the ballgame.

Martin made the first of his free-throw attempts to trim the score to 59-57. Martin then intentionally missed his second free throw, but the shot didn’t hit the rim, giving the ball back to Tullahoma.

Scott was fouled on the inbounds play as Tullahoma had two final free-throw opportunities with 0.7 seconds remaining on the clock. Scott missed both shots as the clock ran out.

Duncan led the Wildcats in scoring after netting 13 points. Uselton added his 12 points, while Jakobe Thomas and Brody Melton each finished with 10 points for Tullahoma. Scott scored nine points, while Ethan Hargrove netted three points and KeiShawn Cummings put up two points.

Tullahoma was scheduled to host Shelbyville on Friday. However, as of press time, the result of that contest was unavailable.

The Wildcats (8-3, 4-0) are next slated to travel to Coffee County this Tuesday. Tipoff of the girls game is scheduled for 6 p.m. with the boys taking the floor 15 minutes after that contest concludes.