Kenwood Knights can’t keep Waverly Tigers from clawing out 60-57 overtime victory

Clarksville, TN – A last-second shot in regulation wouldn’t fall for Kenwood High School, in the final day of the Rossview High School Christmas Classic on Tuesday, December 23rd, allowing Waverly Central High School a second chance that would turn into a 60-57 victory.

Kenwood (7-4) was leading the Tigers, 49-47, with 1:32 left in regulation and in possession of the ball trying to work for a layup, of foul by Waverly.

But Norl missed, with the Tigers getting the rebound and having one final chance to tie, or win the game in regulation.

With time running down, Waverly would get the ball into the hands of its leading scorer, J’Honathyn Smith, with less than 10 seconds left.

Smith would drive to the basket and miss his shot, but Kenwood would be called for a foul, sending him to the line – with 5.8 seconds left.

Smith would knock down both to tie the game 49-49, with Kenwood now having a final chance to win the game in regulation.

The Knights’ Tyree Boykin would bring the ball up quickly and getting a good look at the basket for a final three, but the ball bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra period, the Tigers would score the first seven points – beginning with two free throws coming after a technical foul being called on the Kenwood bench to go up 56-49 with 1:20 left.

But the Knights wouldn’t go down without a fight, as they cut the Tigers lead down to just two points following a three-point field goal by Boykin, with 1.4 seconds left.

But after the bucket, Kenwood called a timeout – they didn’t have – leading to a technical foul and two free throws for Waverly.

Smith would only hit one of two, leaving the door ajar for the Knights, but a last-second heave at the bucket by Kenwood missed the mark and Waverly escaped with the three-point win.

In the first half, the two teams went tooth and nail the first eight minutes of play, with the two being tied 13-13, but the second quarter would see the Tigers get hot from behind the three-point arc – knocking down four in the period – to build a 31-21 lead before taking a 31-25 lead into halftime.

The third quarter would see Norl come out and score nine of his team-high 20 points in the first 4:27 of the period for Kenwood to give the Knights a 36-33 lead, but Waverly would close out the quarter by scoring the final six points to hold a 39-36 advantage, with eight minutes to play.

Waverly would build its lead out to as many as four points in the final quarter, before the Knights knocked two 3s to take a 44-42 lead, with 5:03 left.

The final five minutes of regulation was a back-and-fourth affair, with two more lead changes before the tie of the game at the end of regulation.

Kenwood is off until after Christmas, with its next action coming December 29th at the FSNB Classic.

Box Score

Waverly 60, Kenwood 57, OT

Waverly: Tyler Dell 9, J’Honathyn Smith 26, Rhyse Randolph 17, Taylor Rudolph 6, Jordan Hughey 2. Team totals 18 16-20 60.
Kenwood: Kyrus Newman 2, Tre’Shawn Foster 4, De’Andre Radcliffe 6, Matthew Norl 20, Tyree Boykin 13, Shawrik Martin 5, Keith Dowlen 3, Andre Clifton 2, Tariq James 2. Team totals 23 5-7 57.
3-point field goals: Waverly 8 (Dell 3, Smith 3, Rudolph 2), Kenwood 6 (Boykin 3, Norl 1, Martin 1, Dowlen 1).
Records: Waverly 8-5, Kenwood 7-4.