Fillies, Mustangs Fall in Region Semifinals

The Huntingdon High School basketball season came to an end in the semifinals of the Region 6-2A tournament in Centerville last week at Hickman County High School.

The Fillies lost to the Cheatham County Lady Cubs 59-49 on Monday night and the Mustangs lost to Harpeth 63-60 on Tuesday night.

Cheatham County Lady Cubs 59, Huntingdon Fillies 49
On Monday night, the Fillies were never able to overcome an early poor shooting night and turnovers to spot the Lady Cubs a 15-0 lead to start the game before a Sara Beth Smith basket broke the run for the Lady Cubs. The Fillies let Cheatham County build the lead to 16 as the Lady Cubs led 25-9 after the first quarter of play.

The Fillies played a little better in the second quarter, outscoring the Lady Cubs 14-9 in the frame, but still trailed 34-23 at the half. The Fillies then made a run on the strength of three-point shooting by freshman Knox Bennett who made three shots from behind the arc in the quarter. Delaney Byars added a three, and the Fillies trailed 42-40 entering the final period.

The Fillies, however, spent a lot of energy making the comeback from being down by as many as 16, and the Lady Cubs outscored the Fillies 17-9 in the final period for the win.

The Fillies were plagued by foul trouble as three players fouled out, and Cheatham County went to the line 20 times in the game to the Fillies’ six attempts.

The Fillies were led by Bennett’s 18 points as she made six three-pointers, Smith scored 16, Byars 6, Josey Stokes 6, and Grier Bartholomew 3.

Cheatham was led by Sydnee Mitchell with 19, Montana Lee, Grace Wealdey and Emore Orange with 10 and Hawks with 9.

The Fillies finished the season with a 23-8 record, a regular season district championship, runner-up in district tournament and a semifinal appearance in the region.

Harpeth Indians 63, Huntingdon Mustangs 60
It was a tail of two halves for the Mustangs on Tuesday night as they used their defense and fast break offense to build a 13-point lead at the half. In the first half, the Mustangs trailed 10-7 at one point but scored the next 20 points to take a 27-10 lead before Harpeth cut the lead to 35-22 at the half.

The second half saw the Indians get hot from behind the three-point line, and the Mustangs offense stalled. The Indians used a half court trap offense to force several Mustang turnovers. The Indians outscored the Mustangs 24-12 in the third quarter to trail 47-46 at the end of the frame.

The Indians then bested the Mustangs 17-13 in the final quarter for the win. The Mustangs trailed 63-60 with 9.8 seconds left in the game but a three-point shot fell short ending the Mustangs’ season.

The Mustangs were led in the game by junior Caleb Ezell who scored 21 points and made the only three-pointers for the Mustangs as he made four from long distance, Kenton Smith had 17 points, Braylin Dearmon 15, EJ Lewis 6, and Hayes Eubanks 1.

The Indians made 12 three-pointers for the game, and eight of those came in the second half. Six of those in the second half came from CJ Turner who made seven for the night and scored 26 points to lead all scorers. Caiden Johnson was the only player other than Turner in double figures for the Indians with 13.

The Mustangs finished the season with a record of 19-12, regular season and tournament district titles and a semifinal appearance in the region.