Clarksville fends off Rossview rally as Wildcats continue to climb in 10-AAA standings

By Wade Neely | January 11, 2012 |

Clarksville High School defenders force the turnover on Rossview High School's Kyle Weldon. Despite hanging tough early, Rossview could not pull out the win and lost 74-66.

As any coach in District 10-AAA will tell you, finishing in the top four of the district standings is among a team’s goals every year.

Tuesday night’s matchup between Clarksville and Rossview may have gone a long way toward deciding which school does that as the Wildcats used a strong second-quarter surge to fend off the Hawks 74-66.

“I thought we played pretty well for the most part tonight,” Wildcats head coach Ted Young said. “There was a period in the second half where we struggled in our offense but we were able to get to the free throw line late and come out with a big win.”

After the team’s traded baskets to start the contest tied 8-8, the Wildcats pulled ahead 17-13 as the first quarter came to an end.

It was in the second period, however, where the Wildcats (10-8, 5-3 10-AAA) made their mark, outscoring the Hawks 25-13 and taking a commanding 42-26 halftime lead.

As most district games are, however, it wouldn’t be easy for the Wildcats, who saw their double-digit lead whittled to six points three times in the fourth quarter.

“We were full confident in our team coming down the stretch,” Young said. “We saw some things that were happening but we just kept getting great shots on the offensive end. But you could also see some of our free throw shooting skills have eroded just a little bit since the Christmas break.”

Playing several new lineup combinations, the Wildcats had four players in double figures with Anthony “Scooter” Hightower’s 22 leading the way.

In addition to Hightower, Drake Young and E.J. Holmes posted solid offensive nights, scoring 16 and 14 points each.

Daijon Williams, who missed the six previous games with a thumb injury, added 10 in the victory.

“We were playing a lot of new lineups at times tonight,” Young said. “So it will be a bit of a challenge working those kids in to those end-of-game situations. If we can do that and learn how to win some close games, I think we’ll be OK.”

Army signee Kyle Weldon led the way for Rossview, scoring 23 points – 11 of which came in the second half.

Anfernee Lisenbee added 12 points in the loss for the Hawks (6-9, 3-5 10-AAA), who have now lost six of their last ten games.

Rossview hosts Greenbrier in a non-district matchup Thursday before traveling to Kenwood on Jan. 17.

With the win, the Wildcats continued their climb toward the top of the 10-AAA standings, setting up another big district showdown against Kenwood on Friday.

The Knights won the first meeting 59-37 at Kenwood on Nov. 22.

“Three of our next four games are against teams we’ve already lost to,” Young said. “If we keep improving and playing well and winning our home games from here on out, I think we’ll be in really good shape.”

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