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.

CBHS claims region title with 54-47 win over Briarcrest

By Jason Williams

Memphis, TN – Just seven months after undergoing surgery on a torn ACL, Christian Brothers’ Josh Bougher proved himself to be the best player in the Division II-AA West Region with a 19-point performance that led his team to a region championship.

The Purple Wave (16-11, 5-1) defeated Briarcrest (18-9, 4-2) at home in a heated rivalry game, 54-47, with a region championship on the line. Bougher did most of his damage after halftime, scoring 14 points after his coaches told him to make quicker decisions.

“We got after him a little bit at halftime and told him he was catching the ball and holding it and giving the defense an opportunity to adjust to him,” said CBHS head coach Bubba Luckett. “We told him you either catch and shoot or you’ve got to put it on the floor quick and make a move. He did that, and it was effective for us.”

Still not 100 percent after suffering a torn ACL, torn lateral meniscus and a small fracture in his left knee, Bougher has moved past the physical and mental hurdles that comes with a significant knee injury.

“I feel great,” Bougher said. “I know I’m not 100 percent yet. I’m seven months out of surgery, but as far as playing and getting after it, I love it. I’m feeling good.”

Bougher missed the first part of the season recovering from his injury, but Luckett said it gave other players a chance to learn what they could do.

“It was hard, but I think it made us a better team because we had other guys having to do some things,” Luckett said. “Not having (Bougher) made some of our players have to do more, and now they’re able to do it without having to do this for the first time.”

One of those players whose confidence has grown throughout the season is sophomore Undra Wilson, who finished with 12 points and made four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.

“I haven’t had seniors with as much poise as he’s showing right now,” Luckett said. “He’s really come one as a solid high school point guard. He’s been a difference maker in our little run lately where we’ve been playing so well.”

Briarcrest trailed by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but senior Gus Gran led a charge to get his team back in the game. Gran finished with 17 points, four rebounds and six assists on the night. He also helped give the Saints the lead in the third quarter when he found point guard Mark French for a three-pointer.

Gran sunk two free throws that put his team ahead 35-33 with 3:28 to go in the third quarter, but the Purple Wave responded with a 7-0 run and controlled the lead for the remainder of the game.

The Saints blew a number of opportunities in the fourth quarter by committing four quick turnovers.

Trailing 44-49 with 1:20 left in the game, sophomore Micah Thomas stole an errant pass and raced down the left side of the court. The 6-foot-7 Thomas tried to slam the ball with authority but his attempt hit the back of the rim and bounced in the air and into the arms of a CBHS player.

Thomas entered the game as the region’s leading scorer at 14 points per game and a candidate for most valuable player in the league but struggled with only five points on 2-of-13 shooting.

Division II-AA West Region update:

Christian Brothers won the outright region title with Tuesday’s victory over Briarcrest.

Both the Purple Wave and the Saints receive a bye in the sub state play-in round. Each team will host a sub state game on Saturday, February 21.

According to the MUS basketball twitter, the Owls defeated St. Benedict 55-38. These teams will face each other in the play-in round on Saturday for the right to go to the sub state round. MUS will be the home team.

Final standings:

1. Christian Brothers (16-11, 5-1)

2. Briarcrest Christian (18-9, 4-2)

3. Memphis University School (14-13, 3-3)

4. St. Benedict (11-14, 0-6)

Unofficial box score:

No.	CBHS Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
24	Josh Bougher*	19	5	2	6	0	2	7-15	2-5	3-6
10	Undra Wilson*	12	1	2	1	0	0	4-7	0-0	4-5
44	Brode McLaughlin*	8	4	0	0	0	1	4-10	0-0	0-0
3	Harrison Deneka*	7	5	0	0	2	0	2-6	2-5	1-2
1	Frederick Douglas*	4	3	4	2	0	2	2-6	0-2	0-0
11	Dominic Volpe	4	3	0	0	0	2	2-3	0-0	0-0
33	Shun Alexander	0	2	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
35	William Douglas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
–	TEAM	–	3	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals		54	26	8	9	2	7	21-45	4-12	8-13

No.	BCS Player	Pts.	Reb.	Ast.	TO	Blk.	Stl.	FG	3P	FT
4	Gus Gran*	17	4	6	1	1	1	6-9	0-2	5-5
20	Will Hrubes	9	2	0	0	0	0	4-6	1-2	0-0
10	Mark French*	8	2	0	3	0	2	3-4	2-3	0-0
35	Micah Thomas*	5	7	1	2	1	2	2-13	0-4	1-2
15	KeShun Pinkney*	4	2	2	4	0	1	2-2	0-0	0-0
11	Adam Pike	2	1	0	1	0	0	0-2	0-2	2-2
21	Maceo Woodard*	2	5	1	3	0	0	1-5	0-3	0-0
2	Marc Wilhite	0	1	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
3	Isaiah Sampson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
22	Emerick Lester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0
–	TEAM	–	1	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Totals		47	25	10	14	2	6	18-41	3-16	8-9

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