GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Tullahoma boys’ basketball team won against Marshall County in a tightly contested game on Jan. 31–winning the contest 72-68.

Xavier Farrell, star forward for the Wildcats, with three seconds remaining against the opposing Tigers stepped to the foul line to attempt four free throws with a chance to ice the game. Yes, that’s right, four. Not the typical two or even three that comes with a three-point attempt, but a whopping four shots from the foul line. Let’s talk about how he got there.

The two teams had traded blows all night, especially in the final five minutes of the game, and the fans were deep in the fire of the competitive atmosphere with the players. The home gym at THS was the liveliest it has been all year. Marshall Co. showed well, as their supporters were engaged from the start of the game until the bitter end. Tullahoma’s fans were involved too, but especially got into it when Farrell went up and scored an and-one layup in traffic, to give his team a 57-54 lead with 3:36 remaining. The calm leader who rarely shows emotion, couldn’t help but let out a scream after the clutch bucket. The home bleachers erupted into cheers after seeing this, as this play was just the start of the madness to come in this contest.

Big play after big play from each team continued after the ice-cold bucket from Tullahoma’s senior, all eventually leading to another clutch scenario for Farrell.

He walked up to the foul stripe with just under 30 seconds remaining in the contest for a pair of free throws with a one-point Wildcats advantage sitting in the balance, at 66-65. He missed the first then made the second, giving Tullahoma a two-point lead, at 67-65. Both teams broke into huddles to strategize the next possession following the free throws after a timeout was called, and whatever Marshall Co. head coach Lavon King drew up, was run to perfection.

Senior Guard for the Tigers, Marcus O’Neal, broke free on an inbound play, completely unguarded, to the right corner for a three-point shot and drained it. The gymnasium filled with silence on the THS side and the screams of Marshall fans rang out on the other. The Tigers now lead at 68-67 with 22.1 seconds left.

Khani Johnson dribbled his way through traffic on the next possession and drew a foul, now sending him to the line for another pair of big free throws for the Wildcats, and just like Farrell did, he split them making the score 68-68. The teams then again broke into huddles to strategize the next monumental possession in the contest, as Coach King looked to draw up brilliance once again on his whiteboard, but unfortunately, the play that ensued was the opposite.

The Wildcats played tight man defense on the inbounds play after Johnson’s make to tie the game, and as the five seconds to pass the ball in for Marshall quickly melted away, the Tiger’s inbounder panicked and motioned for a timeout. Play then stopped, but not for the teams to then once again go break into huddles, the game was instead paused for a technical foul. The Tigers had no timeouts remaining when the previous inbound play ensued, and the attempted call of a timeout from the Marshall inbounder warranted the call from the officials.

It is a play rarely seen at any level of basketball, but if a player or coach tries to call a timeout when they don’t have any, it automatically results in a technical foul. This led to Farrell going to the line once again for two foul shots and his team after the conclusion of his attempts also got to keep possession of the ball.

Farrell made one out of two of his shots from the stripe and was given the ball on the inbound after his free throws, where the Tigers then intentionally fouled him so he and the Wildcats could not drain the rest of the game clock away, with only six seconds remaining in the contest.

Frustration from the previous play had boiled over from the Marshall side, as they were hit with another technical foul that ended up taking away any chance they had to comeback. After being fouled Farrell was only scheduled for two attempts at the line, which could only give Tullahoma a three-point lead, with the technical foul called he now had four attempts. He made three out of four shots and gave the Wildcats a two-possession lead, at 72-68, which then resulted in their 21st win of the season.

There were many moments in this contest where Tullahoma could have folded under the pressure, but they pushed through just as they have time and time again this year and got the win.

“They are hard workers that focus and we work on these situations in practice,” head coach of Tullahoma Jason Welch said regarding what allows his players to show up in big moments.

The Wildcats will be back on the hardwood on Feb. 4 against Central Magnet, as the team enters their final three games of the regular season.