Ensworth advances to fourth straight state title game

By Jason Williams

Nashville, TN – With Ensworth being only one victory away from becoming the second team in TSSAA history to win four consecutive state titles, Andrew Fleming is concentrating on his current team’s chance at a state title rather than his program’s chance at history.

Ensworth (18-11) overcame an early deficit to defeat CBHS (17-12) to advance to its fifth overall state championship game in school history.

“I don’t think we’re really focused on being part of the history,” Fleming said. “We’re just focused on winning our state championships and doing our own thing here. We believe in our coaches’ systems and what we’re going to do to win, so we’re excited.”

While most attention was focused on Fleming, it was D’Andre Ferby and Jordan Bone who brought the Tigers from a nine-point deficit in the first quarter.

Mr. Basketball finalist Andrew Fleming (22) struggled early but was key in the Tigers’ 23-9 advantage in the fourth quarter. Photo by Karlee Wakeley.

Ferby finished with 18 points and eight rebounds; Bone added 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

“I think everyone contributed today,” said Ensworth head coach Ricky Bowers. “You’re only as good as the people you practice with, quite frankly. And we’ve had a really good week of practice. All the kids have played hard and been enthusiastic and are giving us good looks. I think we’ve gotten better.”

Ensworth held CBHS guard Josh Bougher, another Mr. Basketball finalist, to four points on 2-of-10 shooting. Ensworth’s game plan defensively was to force Bougher into tough shots, but Bougher said he just wasn’t hitting his shots.

“They didn’t do anything,” Bougher said. “I was getting my shots whenever I wanted. It was just one of those days where you’re not making shots. They weren’t doing anything special. I was just missing shots.”

CBHS also struggled from the free throw line, finishing 10-of-22.

“(Ensworth was) great from the line,” said CBHS head coach Bubba Luckett. “We weren’t. And in close games, even though I think that game was a lot closer that the final score, you gotta knock free throws down.”

CBHS jumped out to a 17-8 lead in the first quarter, but Ensworth was able to throw fresh defenders at the Purple Wave by subbing five players at a time.

“We made some shots, but I thought it was more of our pressure,” Bowers said of his team’s second-quarter comeback. “I thought our defensive intensity picked up tremendously.”

Harrison Deneka led the Purple Wave with 17 points. Brode McLaughlin kept his team in the game in the third quarter and finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Ensworth will play MUS at 7 p.m. Saturday in Allen Arena.

Group of sophomores lead Briarcrest past CBHS

By Jason Williams

EADS, TN – Briarcrest entered halftime against Christian Brothers on Friday trailing by three and struggling to keep the Purple Wave off the boards, but the Saints cranked up the intensity in the second half and turned the rivalry game into a full-court battle.

Led by a group of now-seasoned sophomores, the Saints (15-7, 2-1) rallied from a deficit to hand the Purple Wave (10-10, 2-1) its first loss of regional play with a 52-46 victory.

“I think we won all the hustle plays in the second half, which we hadn’t done all year,” said Briarcrest head coach John Harrington. “We did it on the defensive end.”

Briarcrest sophomore Micah Thomas exemplified the effort it took for the Saints to win in the fourth quarter when he blocked Harrison Deneka‘s three-point attempt on the left wing and saved the ball from going out of bounds. Thomas flipped the ball in-bounds to point guard Mark French, who wrestled the ball away from a defender and sprinted for a lay-up.

“Defense leads to offense,” said Thomas, a 6-foot-7 guard. “I tried to change the momentum of the game.”

French, a second-year starter at point guard for the Saints, led the way defensively with five steals to go along with 11 points on the offensive end. The Saints’ vocal leader only stands 5-foot-7, but his relentless energy and quick feet make him one of the best defenders in the region.

“I just try to be a pest,” French said. “I try to make things happen starting on defense and leading to offense.”

The unsung hero of the game was Maceo Woodard, who led all scorers with 14 points. However, it was his defense that earned praise from his head coach after the game.

“(Maceo) did a good job of guarding Josh Bougher,” Harrington said. “Maceo is long and has good athletic ability. He stayed on the ground and didn’t get Bougher to the free throw line. He didn’t shoot any free throws.”

Bougher finished with only six points on 3-of-15 shooting.

Shun Alexander led the Purple Wave with 14 points and five rebounds off the bench. Alexander was a key factor throughout the game on the offensive boards. Frederick Douglas also had 10 points and gave CBHS a one-point lead with 5:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“(Alexander) is tough,” Harrington said. “He’s a good player. He’s a tough match-up for anybody.”

But in the end, it was the group of Saints’ sophomores that ignited a 9-2 run to put the game out of reach, and now 22 games into the season, Harrington said his young team is morphing into an experienced team.

“In 22 games, you’re not a sophomore anymore; you’re a junior. They’re becoming older and wiser. They’ve played a lot of minutes, so they just have to get psychically stronger. That’s a big key for these sophomores.”

Unofficial box score:

No.	BCS Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
21	Maceo Woodard*	14	4	1	4	0	0	6-9	1-2	1-1
4	Gus Gran*	11	4	4	1	0	2	5-8	1-1	0-0
35	Micah Thomas*	11	4	3	1	3	1	4-7	1-3	2-3
10	Mark French*	9	1	2	1	0	5	4-6	1-3	0-0
20	Will Hrubes	5	1	1	1	0	0	2-4	1-2	0-0
11	Adam Pike	2	0	1	2	0	0	1-3	0-2	0-0
2	Marc Wilhite	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
3	Isaiah Sampson	0	1	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
15	KeShun Pinkney*	0	2	3	2	0	1	0-0	0-0	0-0
–	TEAM	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals		52	18	15	12	3	9	22-37	5-13	3-4

No.	CBHS Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
33	Shun Alexander	14	5	1	0	0	1	7-9	0-0	0-1
1	Frederick Douglas*	10	1	4	4	0	2	4-8	0-1	2-2
3	Harrison Deneka*	9	6	0	2	0	1	4-7	1-4	0-0
24	Josh Bougher*	6	3	1	3	0	0	3-15	0-5	0-0
10	Undra Wilson*	3	3	1	1	0	0	1-1	1-1	0-0
35	William Douglas	2	1	1	0	0	0	1-3	0-1	0-0
44	Brode McLaughlin*	2	3	0	1	1	0	1-6	0-0	0-0
15	Justin Lindner	0	0	1	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
–	TEAM	–	4	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals		46	26	9	11	1	4	21-49	2-12	2-3