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The Tullahoma High School basketball teams have eight district games left, the Lady ‘Cats are third in the district while the Wildcats are tied in first.

Lady ‘Cats led by strong defense

Tullahoma has a 7-10 overall record and are 1-1 in district. They are tied at third place in District 8-AAA with Marshall County. Tullahoma holds the tie breaker over them. Central Magnet and Lawrence County are the only teams to start 2-0 in district play.

The Lady Wildcats have relied on strong defense to stay in every game, giving up less than 42 points per game on the season. That number shrinks to less than 40 points in district which includes a double overtime game. In regulation the Lady ‘Cats are only giving up 33 points per district games. Tullahoma is averaging over 40 points per games in their 17 games. The average raises to 43 in district games, with an average of 38.5 in regulation.

The longest win streak for the Lady Wildcats is two games, they have had two streaks like that. The longest losing streak has been four games.  Tullahoma has played six games without senior starting forward Nyjah Gibbs due to injury. The team is 3-3 in those games, losing the three games by a combined 14 points.

The Lady ‘Cats have been led in scoring by McLayne Bobo on the season with eight games in double-digits. She has four 20-point games with a high of 28. Lily Melton has had seven games scoring in double figures. Her season high is 17, which she has scored twice.

The season has been highlighted with four wins over 4-A teams. Two of those wins were over 12-6 Shelbyville. Another win was over 15-5 Lincoln County. The Lady Wildcats also beat Oakland to start the season. They beat Hartselle from Alabama who are 13-5 on the season. Tullahoma’s most recent win was over 12-2 Marshall County to open district play.

Wildcats outscoring competition 

The Wildcats are 10-7 on the season with a 2-0 start to district play. They are tied with Lawrence County for first place in District 8-AAA.

Tullahoma has an overall point differential of 79 points. They are allowing 55.9 points per game, while scoring an average of 60.6 points. The ‘Cats have scored at least 60 points in 10 games. In three of those games they scored more than 70 points. The Wildcats are averaging 63.5 points per game in district play while holding opponents to 52.5 ppg.

The Wildcats got their roster to full strength after the first game of the season, getting the players from the football team back. The team has gone on a four-game winning streak twice this season, including the current win streak. The ‘Cats have lost just three of their games when they score 50 points in regulation, one of those was an overtime loss to Coffee County.

Tullahoma has been led by Xavier Farrell on the offensive end with 12 games in double figures. Two of those games he scored over 20, including his season high of 24 points. Keegan Taylor has scored double digits in seven games. He has broken 20 just one time for his season high of 27 points. Kahni Johnson has scored at least 10 in six games. He has scored his season high of 16 twice.

The highlights for Tullahoma on the season include six wins over 4A schools and a 2-0 start to the district season. Two wins over Lincoln County and Shelbyville. The other two wins are over Rockvale and Coffee County. The back-to-back wins to open district play were over Marshall County and Central Magnet.

The two teams travel to Giles County tonight with tip off at 6 p.m. They will travel to Lawrence County on Thursday to make up the game from last week. The girls’ game will tip off at 6 p.m. Then Tullahoma will go to Marshall County on Friday.