CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – The Clarksville Academy Cougars hosted the Davidson Academy Bears Friday night for their second district match of the week.
Both home squads emerged victorious; the boys won with a score of 66-57 off a 29-point performance by Eddie Ricks. The girls won, 68-46, with Atyia Moss scoring 19.
Boys game
The Cougars sometimes struggled to find consistency throughout the game, with spurts of sloppiness or fouls. Early on, this allowed the Bears to jump out to a 5-2 lead.
Eddie Ricks turned things around for Clarksville with three big plays back to back: a three pointer, then a block followed up by a dunk, reminded everyone why Ricks is considered one of the best players in the city.
The first quarter ended in a tie at 15 points. By the end of the half, however, the Cougars were up 38-28 following a flurry of scoring by five different players.
Ricks struck twice from downtown to start the third quarter and it looked like the floodgates may open. Davidson switched to man coverage on defense, however, and kept their deficit around the same size. They entered the fourth quarter trailing, 50-39.
In the final period, the Cougars regressed to their inconsistent ways, turning the ball over and committing fouls that put Davidson back into the game. The Bears narrowed the lead down to seven with 6:47 left, and after sinking a big three, they found themselves trailing by only three at 5:37.
Clarksville Academy coach Tyler Hickman called a timeout and calmed his team’s nerves. When the Cougars came back out, Ricks slammed his third dunk of the night and Davidson was called for a charge. Momentum shifted back in Clarksville’s favor, where it stayed the rest of the way.
Davidson Academy resorted to fouling late in the contest, but were unable to claw back into the game, and the hosts escaped with a win, 66-57.
Hickman acknowledged that the scare was due to a combination of his team’s struggles and the Bears’ effort. “It’s (because of) a little bit of both. From our perspective, when they went man, we kind of lost what we were trying to do offensively. For us, we gotta be better in that.
“I thought we handled the zone really well, and that’s good for us to continue being able to do that. Of course we shot the ball well, but I said, sometime last week, our killer instinct really has to go up in those moments.
“When you get (the lead) to 11, you need to get it to 16. When you get it to 16, you need to get it to 20. We knew they were gonna throw a punch. I’m just happy we responded the way we did.”
Looking ahead, Hickman added, “(We had) a great crowd, man. I’m excited for where this program is headed. It’s big for us to go into the Christmas break with two district wins, so we’re 2-0 in the district.
“We’ve got arguably the best team in the city coming in here next Thursday, in Clarksville High. That should be a hot ticket that people wanna stick around and watch. Looking forward to that, but we need to get better before that one, too.”
Scoring Summary – Clarksville Academy Boys
Eddie Ricks – 29, Jac Wyatt – 17, Keith Richburg – 7, Paris Pridgen – 4, Trae Rideau – 4, Cam Phillips – 3, Tyler Moss – 2
Girls game
The Lady Cougars controlled their game much more from start to finish, coming in with a clear size advantage. Their zone defense suffocated Davidson early, while the hosts found the basket easily from the paint and from beyond the arc. Clarksville jumped out to an early 18-6 lead in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Davidson Academy started finding more ways through the hosts’ defense to put some balls in. They were unable to close the gap by the end of the half, however, because Clarksville’s shooters put down six threes in the first half and three in the second period.
From there on, the visitors did what they could to come back, but were unable to get the host’s lead below 9. Clarksville just kept sinking their shots, scoring 21 in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. The Lady Cougars ran away with a comfortable win, 68-46.
Scoring Summary – Clarksville Academy Girls
Atyia Moss – 19, Shinae Johnson – 13, Shay Conn – 12, McKenna Phillips – 10, Savannah Prather – 5 (and 10+ rebounds), Cetera Warren – 4, Anna Hellums – 3, Ella Childers – 2
What’s next
Clarksville Academy hosts a series of games next week in the Cougar Classic.
Thursday, Dec. 16
- 3:30 p.m.: Clarksville Christian vs. West Creek (Girls)
- 5 p.m.: Clarksville Academy vs. Blackman (Girls)
- 6:30 p.m.: Clarksville Academy vs. Clarksville High (Boys)
Friday, Dec. 17
- 4 p.m.: Blackman vs. West Creek (Girls)
- 5:30 p.m.: Clarksville Academy vs. Columbia Academy (Boys)
- 7 p.m.: Clarksville Academy vs. Clarksville Christian (Girls)