GRAY DEYOSports Writer

The Tullahoma boys’ basketball team lost their third game of the season giving them their first loss since Dec. 27, as the Wildcats lost to Lawrence County 56-51.

It felt like at any moment the Wildcats were going to go on a run and separate themselves from Lawrence County, but that run never manifested. Lawrence kept creeping around, and creeping around and eventually found themselves with a lead in the fourth quarter after trailing in the second and third periods.

“We got out-rebounded in the 2nd half, we had poor on-ball and gap defense which caused them to score layups.  We didn’t score it well, but our defense failed us for the first time lately,” head coach of Tullahoma Jason Welch said regarding what led to his team’s loss.

The Wildcats were outscored 20-11 in the fourth quarter with the majority of their 11 points coming when the game was already out of reach. Lawrence culminated an 18-4 run in the quarter that gave them a 52-44 lead with just 1:13 left in the game. Tullahoma missed a ton of shots they regularly hit down the stretch in this game. They also had a few timely turnovers and had no answer for Lawrence combo-guard Alex Bedford.

Bedford finished the game with a game-high 26 points with 13 of them coming in the final quarter of play.

“Bedford is a strong athletic guard that beat us 4 times last season.  We all have to work together to keep him under control, and last night we clearly did not,” said Coach Welch.

Bedford, who was mostly only a threat as a jump shooter through the first three quarters, redirected his game around the rim in the final period, as the senior slashed towards the basket scoring all of his 13 points in the period on layups and free throws. The play of the senior gave Lawrence all of the offensive firepower they needed to run away with this game.

Tullahoma seniors Xavier Farrell and Khani Johnson both had season highs over their two previous games, with Johnson scoring 29 points against Lincoln County and Farrell scoring 43 against Central Magnet. The dual Wildcat fourth-year players both had solid performances against Lawrence County, combing for 37 points–Johnson finishing with 15 and Farrell finishing with a game-high 22 points. But like the rest of Tullahoma, they went cold in the fourth. Lawrence held Farrell scoreless in the period, and held Johnson to seven points, with four of his seven coming in the last 1:13 of the game after their 18-4 run.

The Wildcats have followed their two previous losses in the season both with seven-plus game-winning streaks. So, they will look to do what they usually do and get back on the winning path following their loss. Their next matchup is against Franklin County on Jan. 24.