Clarksville, TN – Too many turnovers gave the Wilson Central Wildcats the opportunity to pounce on the Kenwood Knights and keep them down to win, 50-37, and become the Region 5-AAA Tournament Champions Thursday night at Rossview High School.
The Wildcats employed a defensive 1-2-2 trap that slowed down the Knights normally up-tempo offense and had them making mistakes passing the ball.
“We turned the ball over too many times,” Kenwood Knights head coach John Stigall said. “I thought after we turned it over a few times, it made us a little cautious. When we are getting stops, we are flying up and down the floor offensively, that is when we are good. But when we are not getting stops and we are timid offensively, not real good. That’s what happened.”
The Knights had a fast start that began with back-to-back alley-oops to Kenwood’s Jimario Rivers who finished both with a two-handed dunk. The dunks were part of a Knight’s 8-2 opening run.
However, the Wildcats trap settled in and the Knights turnovers began. The Wildcats went on a 13-0 run that extended into the second quarter and established a 15-8 lead with 6:54 left until halftime.
The Knights committed 11 first half turnovers and shot just 2-of-7 from the field in the second quarter. By halftime they were down by 15 points.
“We can’t turn the ball over 11 times in the first half,” Stigall said. “That is one of the things we talk about every day, before every game. It is one of our keys, be great defensively, limit turnovers and a couple of other things. Those are always the top two. We didn’t do that. We weren’t good defensively early and we surely did not limit turnovers.”
The Knights recovered in the third quarter. They out scored the Wildcats 14-5 in the quarter and cut the Wildcats lead down to six, 33-27 going into the fourth.
Daniel Norl scored eight of his total 10 points in the third quarter. Rivers led the team with 15 points.
The Knights offensive rhythm died in the fourth quarter. They began to succomb to the trap again and shot just 2-of-7 from the field in the final quarter.
“We have been on a heck of a tear the last couple of weeks. It was bound to happen. We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Stigall said.
Kenya Mosley made the Knights only 3-pointer in the game with 1:05 left on the clock. It was the last points the Knights scored.
As the Region 5-AAA Tournament second place finisher, the Knights will have to travel to play Brentwood on Monday, March 3rd.
Although disappointing, Stigall said the loss has motivated his team, especially his seniors, for the next game.
“We are playing a good team on the road, but I wouldn’t want to coach against those three seniors with the fact that it’s their last game being on the line,” Stigall said.
Box Score
Wilson Central 50, Kenwood 37
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Wilson Central Wildcats | 11 | 17 | 5 | 17 | 50 |
| Kenwood Knights | 8 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 37 |
Wilson Central
Jacob Williams 24, Jon Rosshirt 6, Dante Miller 6, A.J. Franklin 4, Ben Palmer 8, Matthew Hall 2.
Kenwood
Jimario Rivers 15, Daniel Norl 10, Kenya Mosley 5, Keith Dowlen 2, Legree Hairston 3, Matthew Norl 2.
Region 5-AAA All Tournament Team
Station Camp – Yalen Reed
Mt. Juliet – Reagan Johnson
Kenwood – Daniel Norl, Jimario Rivers
Wilson Central – Jacob Williams, Ben Palmer, Jon Rosshirt
