By John R. Schirmer
News-Leader staff
JUNCTION CITY – The Nashville Scrappers won the Dual State Tournament Saturday, Dec. 16, with a 47-45 victory over Warren in the championship game.
“That’s the first time for us to win Dual State,” Coach Damon Williams said. “It’s a pretty big tournament.”
The Dual State finals marked the end of a busy week for the Scrappers, which saw them play 5 games in 6 nights and win all 5 games. Nashville is 6-0 on the season.
“I’m pleased with the week. Winning 5 games in 6 nights is pretty big.”
In Saturday night’s title game, Nashville and Warren were tied at 45 each with three seconds left in regulation. The Lumberjacks fouled senior Jhalon Finley, who made both free throws to seal the win for the Scrappers.
C.J. Adams was the leading scorer for Nashville with 13 points. Finley was next with 12, and Dominick Kight added 11.
Ty Pettway was the leading rebounder with 12. Adams had 9.
Nashville was “a little sluggish” early in the game, Williams said. “We had a big, emotional win against Prescott” the night before in a regular-season game. “We played well enough to win” against Warren.
The Scrappers are off for the Christmas break. They will return to the court Jan. 5 at Genoa.
Prescott
The tournament championship came one day after the 66-53 road victory over Prescott.
Nashville jumped out to a 22-10 lead in the first quarter but ran into foul trouble in the second. “We had four starters on the bench” before. Kwon Scott, Robert Dunham, Cameron Scoggins and Damillias Henderson “played well” in their place. “Our bench stepped up,” according to Williams.
In the third quarter, “We got in foul trouble again. Our starters were out there, and none fouled out,” Williams said. Finley, Kight and Pettway all finished the game with 4 fouls each.
Prescott narrowed the gap, but Nashville pulled away late.
Kight led the Scrappers with 20 points. Jamarte Gilliam had 14. Finley recorded 12, with 8 from Adams and 4 from Pettway.
Last Friday and Saturday saw the Scrappers in 2 games against “teams that I knew were really good. We played well enough to win,” Williams said.
Hermitage
Nashville advanced to the finals of the Dual State Tournament with a 61-20 victory over Hermitage in the semifinals Dec. 13.
Gilliam was the leading scorer with 12 points, followed by Adams with 10, Kight and Scott with 9 each, and Finley with 8.
