PARIS -- Up 15 midway through the third period in the Region 5AAA quarterfinals, Lebanon had no answer when Henry County employed a full-court press in a 74-59 loss Saturday at Gamlin Gymnasium.

The loss ended the Blue Devil season at 17-13 while the Patriots (21-8) advanced to the regional semifinals Tuesday night in Clarksville.

Trailing 45-30 with 3:43 left in the third period, Henry County got a free throw from senior Shonte Sims. The Patriots switched to full-court attacking defense which started Lebanon's downfall.

HC rallied to within one point a 45-44 on a LaQuan McFerren jumper with 53 seconds left in the third period. Lebanon added a field goal but carried just a 47-44 lead into the fourth frame.

The Patriots sealing the win at the free throw line by hitting 10 straight to help push the final margin of victory to 15 points.

Lebanon went on a 17-5 scoring run in the middle of the second quarter to put the Blue Devils on top 29-24. The Blue Devils used strong outside shooting of Justin Bridges and Phillip Vance who split four 3-point baskets in the run. Those shots were created by unrestricted drives with kickout passes. Lebanon went on to lead 31-26 at intermission.

Bridges hit two more 3-point shots early in the third quarter and had nine points in the period as the Blue Devils went up by 15 points before the Patriots’ late run.

Lebanon’s Cameron High scored 16 points with Bridges finishing with 15. Justin Manning added 12 points with Vance scoring 10. Ryan Beadle added five points and Jordan Stafford hit one free throw.

MT. JULIET -- No. 2-ranked Mt. Juliet advanced to tonight's Region 5AAA semifinals in Clarksville against Beech with a 65-36 victory over Henry County Friday, Feb. 26 at "The Cave".

Coach Chris Fryer's team, the District 9AAA regular season and tournament champion, improved to 29-1 with the victory and face a "do-or-die" game tonight vs. the Lady Bucs.

Beech earned another crack at Mt. Juliet with a 69-60 victory over Clarksville Northeast Friday.

Three minutes into the second period, Mt. Juliet got consecutive 3-point shots from Carissa Peterson to take a 24-12 lead and Henry County would never recover. The Lady Bears finished the second period with a 19-8 scoring edge to build a 35-16 halftime lead.

Mt. Juliet pounded the ball inside to Caya Williams and Britt Bell in the third quarter for an 18-14 scoring advantage. The duo combined for 13 points as the Lady Bears went into the fourth quarter leading 53-30.

Williams and Bell with 17 points each. Peterson finished with eight points while Helen Mitchner scored seven. Paige Bugher had six points with Chelsea Brown scoring five points. Allyson Hayes scored three points and Emily Gurchiek added two points.

LEBANON -– Cumberland University (4-1 so far this season) has added games this weekend in baseball and will now play four total baseball contests on a weekend originally scheduled with no games.

The No. 17-ranked Bulldogs will take on Missouri Baptist Saturday at 12:30 p.m. and Viterbo Univ. from LaCrosse, Wis., at 3 p.m. On Sunday Cumberland and Viterbo will play a doubleheader starting at Noon.

In all seven games will take place this weekend at Ernest L. Stockton Field, starting Friday at Noon. Friday
Noon – Missouri Baptist vs. Viterbo Univ. (DH)

Saturday
10 AM – Missouri Baptist vs. Viterbo Univ.

12:30 PM – Missouri Baptist vs. Cumberland Univ.

3 PM – Cumberland vs. Viterbo Univ.

Sunday
Noon – Cumberland Univ. vs. Viterbo Univ. (DH)

PADUCAH, KY -- Allysia Bailey scored a career-high 28 points and Cumberland hit seven 3-pointers en route to a 73-56 victory over Mid-Continent Monday in women's basketball action. The game was a make-up from a January 25 contest that was snowed out.
 
Cumberland (7-16, 3-12) ended a six-game losing streak with the victory and all but assured itself of finishing seventh in the TranSouth and avoiding a first round play-in game next Tuesday.
 
The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the first five minutes of the contest, with Ashley Whitmore and Bailey each scoring four points and Brittany Cash capping the spurt with a 3-pointer. CU pushed its advantage to as much as 34-16 after an Angie Wells layup with 5:27 to play in the half.
 
Cumberland held a 36-24 lead at intermission after making four 3-pointers and limiting Mid-Continent to just 36 percent shooting.
 
The second half was more of the same for CU, but not before the home team made a run. MCU cut the deficit to 51-41 with a Katelyn Perry 3-point play with 12:27 remaining, but the Bulldogs answered with an 11-0 stretch to put the game away, highlighted by a pair of buckets and three free throws from Bailey.
 
Bailey's 3-pointer with 5:14 to play put Cumberland ahead, 69-45, the largest lead of the game for the Lady Bulldogs.
 
Bailey made 10-of-14 shots from the field in the game and scored 16 points in the first half. Wells scored 10 points, just her second double figure game of the year.
 
Perry led MCU with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Nicki Dewitt added 11.
 
Cumberland plays a nonconference game at King College in Bristol, Thursday night before ending the regular season Saturday at home against Mid-Continent.