Clarksville, TN – Points came at a premium on the Hawks court Friday night when the Rossview Hawks took on the Northeast Eagles. However, the Hawks scored enough in overtime to get the win. Sophomore guard Javon Vaughn made 5 of 6 clutch free throws in the last minutes of the overtime period to give the Hawks the 47-45 win.
“He’s been huge for us this year. He has led us in scoring. Just being a sophomore, there is good things to come from him,” Hawks head coach Johnny Jackson said. “Tonight when Cannon fouled out, that moved him to the point. He has been adamant about not playing the point. Tonight I thought he was huge. He stepped up and handled the ball and got it to the free throw line and sealed it for us.”
The game was a physical, defensive battle. Both teams made small runs, but not enough to securely separate themselves from the other team.
Down the stretch, the Hawks were able to drive to the basket to get the shot or get fouled and go to the free throw line. The Eagles were forced to rely on long jump shots, with limited attempts as the Hawks crashed the boards on both ends.
“Our defense was phenomenal tonight. The zone worked just like we wanted it to,“ Jackson said. “I thought we did an unbelievable job on the back boards. Limited them to contested jump shots and going and fetching.”
The two teams finished the fourth period tied at 37. The Hawks scored 4 straight points, but the Eagles responded with a 3-pointer to stay within a point, 41-40.
Continuing to drive to the basket, the Hawks went up 44-40 from the free throw line with less than a minute remaining in the game. The Eagles answered again with another 3-pointer to close the gap to one point with 16 seconds remaining.
The next two possessions the Eagles missed long jump shots, then the Hawks grabbed the rebound and got the ball into the hands of Vaughn who sealed the win from the free throw line.
“We just tried to force people away from the basket. I believe in if I am going to get beat, I’m going to get beat from 19” 9’ and not from two feet,“ Jackson said. “People make threes, then we are going to tip our hat to them. But we are going to try to secure that paint and not let anybody in there.”
Jackson said his team showed maturity, battling through adversity throughout the game against the Eagles.
Julian Thompson Clay led all scorers with 23 points.
“Julian was great inside tonight. It was nice to see him show up and play big. We’ve been waiting on it.” Jackson said.
Photo Gallery
Box Score
Rossview 47, Northeast 45
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Final | |
| Rossview Hawks | 6 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 47 |
| Northeast Eagles | 10 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 45 |
Rossview: Julian Thompson Clay 23, Javon Vaughn 5, Donterius Preacher 6, Cannon Campbell 3, David Cross 8, Luis Amesty 2
Northeast: Jontae Brown 10, Dre Felton 9, Nick Green 8, D’Andre Cross 7, Jaylan Tharpe 3, Nick Severado 2, Anterrian Cheatham 2
