SPORTS HALL OF FAME CEREMONY

On a night when Lebanon High celebrated its athletic history, the Blue Devils and Devilettes did their part with a stirring doubleheader sweep of visiting White County High.

Coach Ashley Johnson’s LHS girls held off a White County comeback attempt and came away with a 58-52 District 7AAA win in Tuesday night’s opener at Campbell Brandon Gym.

Steady Icelyn Elie led the way with 24 points, including a 7-of-10 effort at the line as Lebanon improved the 8-12 overall / 5-6 in the league. Elie, an MTSU signee, also pulled in 11 rebounds and handed out a pair of assists.

Shay Coggins chipped in with 13 points, Marissa Jennings had eight, Anna Stafford seven and McKenzie Lamberson six for the winners.

IN TUESDAY’S NIGHTCAP, the Blue Devils opened up a 22-12 lead and never looked back, blowing out White Count 72-38.

All told, 11 LHS players broke into the scoring column, led by 13 from Xavier Smith. Ryan Beadle had 10 (all in the second half) while Jacob Thigpen also had 10. Lebanon improved to 13-10 overall / 7-4 in District 7AAA.

The LHS teams will travel to Murfreesboro Friday night for a district twinbill at Riverdale High.

BETWEEN GAMES -- LHS held its second annual induction ceremonies for the Lebanon High Sports Hall of Fame.

Inductees included the 1971 state champion girls basketball team, Bruce Skeen (Class of 1963), Danny Watkins (Class of 1973) and Claude "Buster" Jennings (Class of 1946). Representing the 1971 Devilettes were: Gail Barnes Vaughn, Scheree McCathern and Donna Gallaher Hamilton.

By TOMMY BRYAN

A king was crowned, a milestone was recognized and most importantly, the Mt. Juliet High basketball program chalked up four wins in action Friday and Saturday night. Anyway you slice it, sweeping back-to-back doubleheaders makes for a pretty good weekend.

Mt. Juliet went on the road Saturday and took a pair from Lebanon High at Campbell Brandon Gymnasium.

Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second quarter, the Lady Bears came roaring back and knocked off Lebanon 63-53.

The win was pretty good birthday present for Coach Chris Fryer, who had been honored the night before for winning his 300th career game at Mt. Juliet (against just 53 losses).

"We came out a little flat, but give Lebanon credit," Fryer said, "they crashed the offensive boards like mad."

Lebanon took a 25-10 lead in the second only to see Lady Bear Carissa Peterson knock down three 3-point baskets in a 14-2 MJ run.

Led by Peterson, Mt. Juliet cut Lebanon’s lead to just 27-24 at intermission.

Ninth grader Caya Williams led Mt. Juliet with 22 points, 20 of which came in the second half. Peterson had 12 points and Britt Bell 10, eight of while came after intermission as Mt. Juliet improved to 20-3 on the season.

Lebanon (7-12 overall) was led by Icelyn Elie’s 16 points and 10 rebounds. Marissa Jennings finished with 11 points and Shay Coggins had nine, McKenzie Lamberson seven and Anna Stafford five.

Boy’s action found Mt. Juliet’s Teraes Clemmons ripping the nets for 33 points as the Golden Bears downed Lebanon 78-64 in Saturday’s nightcap. MJ improved to 15-8 overall while Lebanon fell to 12-10 on the season.

Darryl Jackson slammed in 21 points for the Bears, including 13 in the second period. Ethan Gross finished with 11 points and Reed Gurchiek had five points.

Lebanon was led by Casey Nunley’s 15 points, 13 from Ryan Beadle and 11 fron Robert Crudup. High-scoring guard Xavier Smith was limited to nine points.

On Friday, Mt. Juliet swept District 9AAA rival Gallatin High at "The Cave". The Lady Bears smoked Gallatin 67-27 in the opener as Williams had 28 points and Bell 19.

The Bears downed Gallatin 61-50 behind 28 from Clemmons and 14 from Jackson. Both Mt. Juliet teams stand 7-2 in District 9AAA.

Also on Friday, Garrison Turner was crowned king of Mt. Juliet’s basketball homecoming celebration.

LHS sweeps Warren Co. -- The Blue Devilettes of Lebanon High saw 10 players break into the scoring column Friday with a 71-43 win over Warren County at Campbell Brandon Gymnasium.

Elie led the way with 27 while Stafford chipped in with 13 points as LHS mounted an early 22-6 advantage. LHS upped its record to 4-6 in District 7AAA.

Boy’s action saw Lebanon ripping the Pioneers 71-52 -- improving to 6-4 in 7AAA. Nunley led the Blue Devils with 23 and Phillip Vance had 11 points.

LOSS ENDS 7-GAME WIN STREAK

HENDERSON -- A seven-game winning streak came to a screeching halt for Cumberland Saturday as 20th-ranked Freed-Hardeman pulled out a 66-59 overtime win.

Kristoffer Smith’s jumper with two seconds left forced overtime and the Lions rode the momentum to the victory.

CU was doomed by 27 turnovers in the contest and cold shooting (7-for-24) in the first half.

Quentin Turner scored a season-high 19 points for the Bulldogs (18-3, 8-2 TSAC) and Rontreal Braxton added 13 on a bad ankle.

The loss puts Lonnie Thompson’s team in third place in the TranSouth Conference, one game behind Freed-Hardeman (17-6, 9-1) and a half-game behind Union University.

Cumberland overcame an 11-point second half deficit and took a two-point lead in the final two minutes. The Bulldogs made their first 19-of-25 free throws in the contest but then hit just 5-for-12 over the final two minutes and in overtime, failing to put away the game in regulation and then failing to score until the 1:26 mark of overtime.

Turner hit 6-of-7 shots from the field for Cumberland, including a pair of free throws, and was 5-for-6 at the foul line.

Brandon Powell grabbed nine rebounds for the Bulldogs, while Brandon Springer, Kenneth Simms and Braxton all had seven boards.

Zack Frey led the Lions with 17 points and seven rebounds. Jesse Moulton scored 11 points for FHU, while Kirtiss Brown and Shun Trevillian both netted 10.

In overtime Springer missed two free throws and then Simms did the same. Three missed field goals and a pair of turnovers later and Freed-Hardeman led by a score of 60-53.

Turner ended the drought in OT with a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs were just 1-of-5 from the field and 3-for-8 at the foul line in the extra period.

Women: FHU 102, CU 59 -- Meribeth Boehler scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and Hannah Parsley came off the bench to post 31 points as sixth-ranked Freed-Hardeman rolled to a 102-59 victory over Cumberland Saturday in women’s basketball action in Henderson.

Freed-Hardeman made 19-of-28 (68 percent) shots in the first half and raced out to a 50-22 advantage at the break en route to the win.

The Lady Lions (18-5, 8-2 TSAC) had four players in double figures by halftime and never looked back. Boehler was 11-for-14 from the field and registered 12 defensive rebounds for Freed-Hardeman, while Parsley went 5-of-9 from 3-point range and also hit eight free throws.

Chelsie Alsup scored 17 points and Nicole Duncan recorded 10 for the Lady Lions as well.

The Lady Bulldogs (7-16, 2-8) shot only 31 percent and committed 10 turnovers in the first period, allowing Freed-Hardeman to build the big lead.

Brittany Cash and Chaquaila Gaten both scored 13 points for Cumberland, while Bona Ogada netted nine points.

Cumberland visits Lyon College in Batesville, AK Thursday for a 6 p.m. conference twinbill before returning home Saturday afternoon, Feb. 7 to face Mid-Continent at 2 p.m. at the Dallas Floyd Recreation Center.

WATERTOWN -- Friendship Christian’s double barrel attack of Katy Vaughan and Carly Warmath provided most of the firepower Tuesday as Friendship Christian’s Lady Commanders turned back Watertown 67-34.

FCS improved to 13-7 overall / 7-1 in District 8A with the win while Watertown slipped to 11-10 / 45.

Vaughan (22) and Warmath (17) combined for 39 points as Vaughan also pulled in 11 rebounds. Warmath contributed six steals and six assists.

Leading 9-8, FCS closed out the first quarter on an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to 20-10.

BOY’S ACTION Tuesday found the No. 9-ranked Commanders running past Watertown 78-49.

FCS improved to 17-3 overall / and a perfect 8-0 in District 8A. The Tigers fell to 9-12 / 4-5.

Parker Teeter had 16 points, Hardie Sorrels 13 and Matt Goodner 10 for the Commanders.

Kenny Rowland paced Watertown with 16 and Keandre Bates added 10 while Caleb Grandstaff chipped in with nine points.

Friendship hosts Gordonsville Friday while Watertown will host Trousdale County Thursday in a 6 p.m. makeup doubleheader.