DUANE SHERRILLSports Writer

The Tullahoma Wildcats find themselves looking up from the bottom of the District 8 standings as they lost another close one this past week, falling 70-60 to the Tigers of Marshall County despite a big showing by Xavier Ferrell who led all scorers with 15 on the evening.

The host Tigers got out of the gate quick with AJ Jones hitting a trio of field goals while Kintarius Morris and Jabrae Howard both buried 3s from distance. Ferrell replied with three field goals for the ‘Cats while teammate Khani Johnson swished a three and Bryson Steverson got a deuce and a single to leave his squad down by three, 15-12, at the end of one.

The Tullahoma offense wasn’t flowing in the second as they notched just 10 points, led by Grant Chadwick who had a pair of field goals. Johnson also contributed a three while Malik Grizzard sank one from the field and Ferrell added a single to the board. The hosts registered 15 points in the second with Jamachl Gentry getting six of those while Jayce Harney had five. The damage left Tullahoma trailing 30-22 at halftime.

The Wildcats actually outscored the Tigers in the third, 15-14, as Jaiden Sanchez had a big quarter with seven points which included a three, a two and twins from the charity stripe. Ferrell continued with his steady showing, bucketing four points in the third while DeAndre Jenkins and Grizzard added two apiece. For the hosts, AJ Jones was big man on campus in the third, leading his squad with eight points in the period. He led the Tigers on the night with 14 points.

The fourth period saw a free throw shooting contest. Unfortunately for Tullahoma, Marshall County won that contest, going 12-for-15 from the charity stripe, getting nearly half of their 23 fourth quarter points from the stripe. Marshall’s Jayden Hart did the most damage, going four-for-five from the line on his way to an eight-point period. Howard joined in and was three-for-four from the stripe on his way to a nine-point fourth. For Tullahoma, Ferrell was a perfect four-for-four from the foul line while Deandre Jenkins was two-for-two from the stripe on his way to a seven-point fourth period. Chadwick added a three while Johnson had a pair of deuces and Sanchez added a bucket to the final total.

The ‘Cats are tied with Lincoln County at the bottom of the district standings after losing by four to Spring Hill last week. They will play host to Lawrence County, which is 1-1 in the district but a whopping 17-3 overall, during homecoming this Friday night.