Tennessee High School and Cherokee staged a thriller in the opening game of action Saturday morning, with the Vikings halting a Chiefs rally to take a 69-67 win.
The contest highlighted a pair of high-scoring guards in Tennessee High’s Addie Wilhoit, who scored 26 including a perfect 10-10 free throws, and Cherokee’s Kenady Deal, who had 30 until the 5:01 mark of the final quarter when she left the game with an apparent ankle injury.
The Rogersville team held a lead of as many as 16 points in the third quarter (46-30) before the Vikings staged a furious comeback, outscoring the Chiefs 16-3 over the final five minutes of the third to take a 49-46 lead into the final quarter.
The fourth period saw the teams swap the lead with Cherokee holding their last advantage at 62-60 on a three-point play by Elizabeth Coward. A 3-pointer by Tennessee’s Jenna Latham at the 2:30 mark put the Vikings back up 63-62 and they never trailed again.
Deal of Cherokee (12-4), a freshman, finished the game making 9-of-10 field goals, including 6-7 from behind the arc. Rylee Sivert, another freshman, scored 12 with seven rebounds and four assists.
The winning Vikings (12-4) got 14 points from Jasmine Jones and 12 points each from Addi Moore and Jenna Latham to go along with the 26 from Wilhoit.
Tennessee High (69): Addie Wilhoit 6-15 10-10 26, Addi Moore 5-8 1-2 12, Jenna Latham 3-4 4-4 12, Grainger 2-3 0-0 5, Jasmine Jones 7-11 -0 14, Warwick 0-2 0-0 0, Carmody 0-0 0-0 0, Linkous 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23-43 15-16 69.
Cherokee (67): Nelson 2-4 0-0 6, Kenady Deal 9-10 6-6 30, Rylee Sivert 4-11 3-4 12, Lawson 1-6 0-0 3, Pearson 2-5 0-0 4, Nelson 1-1 0-0 3, Coward 3-4 3-3 9, Ferrell 0-1 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22-42 12-13.
3-Point Goals: TH—8 (Wilhoit 4, Latham 2, Moore, Grainger). CHS—11 (Deal 6, B.Nelson 2, Sivert, Lawson, N.Nelson).
Score by quarters:
Tennessee High 14 12 20 23–69
Cherokee 24 15 10 18–67
