Mustangs Win District Title

It was a great week for Huntingdon High School basketball as the Mustangs won the district tournament and their opening round region game, and the Fillies opened region play with a win.

On Monday, the Mustangs started the week by achieving something that hadn’t been accomplished for Mustang basketball since 1998 by winning the district tournament after also winning the regular season district title.

The Mustangs defeated Camden 55-51 at Stewart County High School in Dover. The Mustangs, who finished the regular season with a 5-1 district record, won two games in the district tournament to claim the title.

In the championship game, the Mustangs overcame a seven-point deficit at the half and held the Lions to six points in the third quarter. The Mustangs outscored Camden 33-21 in the second half to earn their second win of the season over the Lions.

The Mustangs were led by tournament and regular season MVP Kenton Smith, who scored almost half of the Mustangs points for the game with 26, Caleb Ezell scored 10 and made two huge three-pointers in the second half, EJ Lewis 9, Bryson Whiteside 6, Braylin Dearmon 2, and Garvin Kee 2.

Camden was led by Aiden Melton, who was named regular season co-MVP with Smith, with 24 points. Jake Reynoldson 11, Moore 5, Porter 4, Arnold 4, and Johnson 3.

The Mustangs, who started the region tournament as the one seed, followed the district championship win with a 79-69 win over East Hickman, the four seed from district 11-AA, on Saturday night at Huntingdon. The Mustangs led 18-10 after one quarter and 37-30 at the half. The Mustangs took a 15-point lead after three quarters at 61-46. The Eagles made a game of it in the second half as they made eleven threes for the game, including five in the last quarter and seven in the second half. The Mustangs, however, had nine steals in the game, forced seven turnovers and had double-digit scoring from four players for the win.

The Mustangs were led by EJ Lewis with 23, Kenton Smith 19, Caleb Ezell 13, Braylin Dearmon 13. Dearmon also had 11 rebounds and four blocked shots, Bryson Whiteside 8, Hayes Eubanks 2, and Garvin Kee 1.

Sylas Quillen led the Eagles with 21, Tyler Walker 18, and Nathan Hobbs 13.

The Mustangs improved to 19-11 for the season and are scheduled to play Harpeth on March 4 at Hickman County High School.

The Fillies, who entered the region tournament as the second seed from district 12-AA, faced Hickman County at home on Friday to open region play and the Fillies advanced with a 65-42 win over the Lady Bulldogs. The Fillies built a 20-point lead at the half at 35-15 and coasted to the win.

The Fillies improved to 23-7 for the season and will face Cheatham County in the semifinal scheduled for Monday night after The Banner’s press deadline.

Delaney Byars led a balanced Fillies attack with 23 points and collected five rebounds, Josey Stokes 15, Sara Beth Smith eleven points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, Quinn Kelley 9, Knox Bennett 4, and Grier Bartholomew 3.