Post Photo by Chris Siers Xavier Mosley draws heavy contact and finishes a basket off the block for Marshall County.
By CHRIS SIERS
csiers@bedfordcountypost.com
LEWISBURG — With third place on the line in the District 8-AAA tournament, Jamahl Gentry did everything he could in the fourth quarter to will the Marshall County Tigers to a win.
He scored 10 of his 20 total points in the fourth, and had a good look at a would-be game winner, but as the fates would have it, the shot caught the side of the iron and Tullahoma escaped with a 69-68 win over the Tigers.
Following the first half, the Tigers felt pretty good about where they sat, having built a seven-point lead to open the third after a basket by Jabrae Howard bumped the advantage to 35-28.
But Marshall County’s seven-point lead evaporated into a nine-point deficit by the end of the third thanks to a 24-point third by the Wildcats.
Tullahoma used two separate runs of nine and six points to build its sizable lead.
Gentry hit a 3-pointer to bring the Tigers within one point with 3:57 left in the third, but the Tigers were held to just three points over the final three minutes of the period.
Even into the fourth, Tullahoma preserved its lead and answered Marshall County’s rallying efforts, playing through big man Austin Tinnon, who went for a game high 24 points.
Trailing 62-51 with just under five minutes left, Marshall County deployed its press that allowed the Tigers to force turnovers and work the ball in transition.
In that transition offense, the Tigers were able to effectively draw several fouls, which stopped the clock and allowed Marshall County to begin its rally.
Later in the quarter, a basket by Tullahoma’s Khani Johnson gave the Wildcats a 67-61 lead with 1:10 left in the game.
Two possessions later, Gentry answered with a 3-pointer from the wing, cutting the Tullahoma lead to just three points.
Needing to foul to stop the clock, Johnson again stepped to the line, but was only able to hit the front end of the two attempts with 36 seconds left, making it a four-point lead for the Wildcats.
Gentry again answered and sliced through the Tullahoma defense and hit a layup with 27 seconds left to pull the score to 68-66.
After the next foul sent Tinnon to the line, both free throws missed and gentry again corralled the ball, drew the foul and hit both of his attempts to tie the game at 68 with six seconds left.
Taking the in-bound possession, the Wildcats quickly worked the ball across half-court but a whistle blew, sending Keegan Taylor to the line.
The inconsistency continued at the line for Tullahoma as Taylor was only able to connect on the second attempt, allowing the Tigers one final look at the win.
Marshall County worked the ball into Gentry’s hands, who quickly worked into the front court and let a good look at the 3-point attempt fly, which missed just on the left side of the rim.
In total, the Tigers rallied for 25 points and shot 18-of-26 tries from the charity stripe.
Tullahoma, however, shot just 5-of-18 attempts, with none bigger than the second by Taylor with six seconds left.
While Gentry answered the bell in the fourth quarter, it was Howard who helped carry the load through the first three quarters.
He led the Tigers with 21 points and went 9-of-14 from the free throw line.
Marshall County will have a tall order to fill, traveling to the winner of the District 7-AAA championship between Upperman and Stone Memorial for the first-round of the Region 4-AAA tournament on Saturday.
Tullahoma 14 14 24 17 — 69
Marshall Co. 18 15 10 25 — 68
Post Photo by Chris Siers Jabrae Howard caps a fast break with a basket. He led Marshall County with 21 points.
Tullahoma: Austin Tinnon 24, Xavier Farrell 13, Keegan Taylor 6, Jaiden Sanchez 6, Khani Johnson 5, Jayden Thompson 5.
Marshall Co.: Jabrae Howard 21, Jamahl Gentry 20, Xavier Mosley 8, KeMarion Allen 8, Marcus O’Neal 6 Markel Harris 5.
3-Point goals: Marshall Co. (8): Gentry 3, Allen 2, O’Neal 2, Harris; Tullahoma (2): Taylor, Farrell.
Halftime score: Marshall Co. 33, Tullahoma 28.
