Tigers advance, will play Big Sandy

MOUNT VERNON, Texas—It took overtime to decide the winner.

Clarksville punched its ticket into the Class 2A regional quarterfinals with a 46-41 overtime win against North Hopkins at Tiger Gym on Friday.

The Tigers will play Big Sandy next week.

“I think we played well defensively, but we didn’t play very well offensively,” Clarksville head coach Willie Coulter said. “Down the stretch we were just 1 of 7 from the free throw line, and we’re not going to beat anyone like that; we have to be better. I am happy with the win, and we get to move on.”

The Tigers’ defense forced the Panthers to take many

shots from the perimeter.

Knotted at 38-all at the end of regulation, Tiger senior George Cherry, who finished with a team-high 17 points, sank a trey to get the momentum going the way of Clarksville.

The Tigers went on an 8-0 run, and it was all they needed. The Panthers went cold from the field in overtime, hitting just one shot out of five. Clarksville connected on all three of its shots from the field.

North Hopkins outscored the Tigers, 9-5, in the fourth quarter to force the four minute overtime quarter. Clarksville went cold in the fourth and hit just 2 of 10 shots.

The Tigers finished the game with a field goal percent of 50, as they hit on 20 of 40 shots. The Panthers were 14 of 34 for 41 percent.

Quay Scales helped out with 13 points for Clarksville. Deont’e Tavie and Markeath Taylor each pulled down seven boards to lead the Tigers.

Clarksville took an 8-point lead into the locker room at 24-16.

Scales led all scorers with 13 points in the first half for the Tigers, who jumped out on a 10-2 run to start the first quarter.

Scales knocked down a trey to start the second quarter to make it 13-7 in favor of Clarksville.

The Tigers jumped on North Hopkins early, as they made a 10-3 run to start the second quarter.

The Panthers shot 36 percent from the field on 5-of-14 shooting, while Clarksville hit 11 of 19 shots for 58 percent.

In the other Class 2A area game, Josiah Johnson poured in 25 points to lead Big Sandy to a 61-48 win over Bland.