Nashville Christian dominates Clarksville Academy
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville Academy reunited with its District 10-AAA rival at Procter Court Friday night, but the Cougars didn’t get another winning outcome.
The Cougars (5-14, 2-8) defeated Nashville Christian by one point on Dec. 12 for their first district win of the season, but the Eagles (10-13, 6-4) clearly dominated the rematch with a 72-53 victory.
The Cougars continue to struggle in district action as they remain in last place behind McEwen and Jo Byrns. The young Clarksville Academy squad, however, had its other district win on Jan. 14 over second-place LEAD Academy of Nashville, which has lost only two district matches.
Cougars guard Austin Fisher led his squad with 33 points against the Eagles Friday night. The sophomore is only 44 points away from reaching 1,000 on his career. Fisher went 8-for-9 at the free-throw line and took advantage of two technical fouls against the Eagles by making all four shots. Fisher also made five three-pointers.
Another sophomore, Donavan Boatright, scored 12 points for the Cougars. Boatright was instrumental in the third quarter with six points when the rest of his team struggled to score from the field.
Senior Ivan Purcell and junior Kennie Wade both said that they couldn’t match their own second-half intensity before the half when they had found themselves in a 13-point hole. They would have been down by 16 had it not been for Fisher’s three-point buzzer beating shot.
“We didn’t play to the best of our ability tonight,” said Purcell.
The Eagles came out with a full-court press in the first half, throwing the Cougars off guard, according to Wade.
“They came out really intense. We got off to a slow start,” Wade said. “In the second half we came out and tried to match their intensity. That’s what happened. When they pressed us we didn’t really expect it.”
The Cougars have two regular-season games left in the district, including a matchup with Houston County. The Irish faced off with second-place LEAD Academy Friday night, which is one game behind. No score between the two was available at press time. The Irish’s lone loss came against LEAD Academy last month.
As the regular season reaches near its end, however, Purcell and Wade said they still have hopes to make a strong finish this year.
“We plan on playing as a team and to the best of our ability, and hopefully we can come away winning here on out,” said Purcell. “We want to win the district and the region. Hopefully, we can win the region and go on to state.”
The Eagles ended the first quarter with a 12-point lead. They jumped ahead seven points within the first four minutes of the period. Zell Walker led the Eagles with 25 points, scoring 11 of those points in the first quarter, including three three-pointers.
BOX SCORE
NCS 19 21 16 16 – 72
CA 7 20 13 13 – 53
NCS – Zell Walker 25, Brant Lowless 16, Jaylon Jackson 10, Mickey Martin 9, Zac Varner 8, Austin Bishop 2, Slater Howard 2
CA – Austin Fisher 33, Donavan Boatright 12, Ivan Purcell 2, Kennie Wade 2, Damian Hardison 2, Austin Wendt 2