Northeast Eagles and Dickson Dragons advance to Middle School Basketball Area 1-AAA Finals

Clarksville, TN – The Middles School Boys Area 1-AAA basketball tournament continued Tuesday afternoon at Kenwood High School. Four teams competed with the winners advancing to the championship game Thursday night.

The Northeast Eagles and the Dickson Dragons defeated their opponents and will play each other in the finals for the championship.

Northeast 24 West Creek 22

The first boys game came down to the wire. Northeast’s Alec Kegler made the game winning basket with two seconds left in the game. The Coyotes had the final seconds after Kegler’s layup to inbound the ball and try to at least tie the game. However, the Coyotes’ inbound pass was intercepted by Eagle Khalil Smith, ensuring the Eagles win.

The two teams had battled to a 20-20 tie with just under five minutes remaining. Two free throws by Kegler and Shawn Robinson gave the Eagles a 22-20 lead until West Creek’s Jaylon Negron made two free throws to tie the game again at 22 with 2:50 on the clock. Neither team would score again until Kegler’s game winner.

Kegler led all scorers with 11 points. He was one of four Eagles to score in the game. Robinson scored eight points. Five players scored for the Coyotes. Negron and Javeon Edwards both scored six. Jaden Florence added five points.

The Eagles shot 5-of-9 from the field and 6-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half. The Coyotes shot 5-of-10 and 2-of-4 from the stripe in the same span.

This Eagles advanced to the finals of the middle school Area 1-AAA tournament for the fourth year in a row.

Dickson 38 Hawks 35

In the final game of the night, the Dickson Dragons withstood a late Rossview Hawks rally to win, 38-35. Down 15-22 at halftime, the Hawks cut the Dragons lead to four points, 28-24, by the end of the third quarter. They opened the fourth quarter with a 5-2 run that included a 3-pointer by Ryan Martin to get within one, 30-29.

Hawk Ben Glenn made a 3-pointer to tie the game at 34 with 2:45 left in the game. At two minutes on the clock Dragon Cody Pardue was fouled, but failed to make the ensuing free throws to take the lead. However, Pardue’s teammate Darian Burns made a steal and scored, giving the Dragons a two-point lead with 1:31 remaining.

After a missed shot by the Hawks, Burns scored two more points from the free throw line to increase the lead to four, 38-34 with less than a minute on the clock. The Hawks last score came from Max Leineweber at the free throw line with 12 seconds left in the game. The Dragons, failed to make free throws in the last 12 seconds when fouled, but made key rebounds that kept the Hawks from attempting any more shots.

Four Dragons scored in the game. Three put up double-digit points. Pardue scored 13, Burns scored 12 and D.J. Stacey added 11. The Hawks also had four players score. Both Leineweber and Glenn scored 10 points.

With the win, the Dragons advance to play the Eagles in the Championship game at 7:15pm Thursday, January 29th. The Hawks will play the Coyotes in the Consolation game scheduled for 4:45pm the same day.

Box Scores

Game 1

Northeast 24, West Creek 22

Northeast
Alec Kegler 11, Shawn Robinson 8, Khalil Smith 4, Shemar Barksdale 1.

West Creek
Javeon Edwards 6, Jaden Florence 5, Jaylon Negron 6, Montre Boddie 3, Chris Parsons 2

 Game 2

Dickson 38, Rossview 35

Dickson
Kody Pardue 13, Darian Burns 12, D.J. Stacey 11, Jacob England 2.

Rossview
Ben Glenn 10, Max Leineweber 10, Ryan Martin 8, Thomas Galliday 7