DUANE SHERRILLEditor

The Tullahoma Wildcat basketball season came to an end Tuesday night when a last second heave missed the mark after Spring Hill came roaring back late in the game to claim a 58-56 win in the opening round of the district tournament.

The problem that the Wildcats could not solve was Spring Hill’s Kai’seanne Brashear as he almost single-handedly lifted his team to victory, scoring 40 of their 58 points.

“Brashear was amazing for them,” admitted Tullahoma Head Basketball Coach Jason Welch. “I did a poor job getting us in a position to stop him. He made long 3s at crucial times and was 17-for-17 from the free throw line.”

The might Raider got started early as he put up nine points on the Wildcats in the opening period, helping his team to a 16-12 lead at the end of one. For Tullahoma, DeAndre Jenkins, Ethan Hargrove and Jaiden Sanchez all had four in the first. Sanchez led the ‘Cats in scoring with 16 on the night while Jenkins was the only other ‘Cat in double digits with 10.

The second again belonged to Brashear as he led all scorers with six, four of those coming from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the ‘Cats did not have a player with more than two points in the second as Sanchez and Jenkins both had buckets as did Austin Tinnon. Bryson Steverson hit a free throw to set the score at 27-19 in favor of the host Raiders going into the locker room.

Tullahoma came out of the break like a house afire, outscoring the Raiders 18-10 thanks to Grant Chadwick who scored six points in third on the way to an eight point game. Ferrell and Sanchez contributed four points apiece to the rally while Tinnon and Jenkins added deuces as the game was tied at 37 going into the fourth.

The fourth looked to be another good quarter for Tullahoma as they came out strong with Sanchez having his best quarter, scoring six in the fourth while Hargrove also had his best quarter with five in the final frame. However, Brashear was not about to let his squad go down without a fight. First, he was a perfect nine-for-nine charity stripe and then was accurate from distance, swishing a pair of 3-pointers, the last of which tied the game at 56-56 with just seconds to go. He then got it done on the defensive side of the ball as he forced a turnover and was fouled with one tick left on the clock. He then calmly made both free throws, leaving Tullahoma with only a heave at the end which missed its mark.

The win meant Spring Hill moved on to play Page Friday night in the district semi-final game. The result of that game was not available at press time. The win was also a sweep by Spring Hill over Tullahoma as they won 60-56 and 66-28 in their first two meetings.

While the season ended earlier than hoped, Coach Welch said there were a lot of positives to take from the season. The coach is looking forward to the next season already given the scrappiness of his young team that did not have a single senior.

“Our guys are all underclassmen and will be back next year and this year was a learning experience,” the coach said. “I’m extremely proud of the team for their improvement the last three weeks. I’m excited about our future.”