TreCary Menlay’s long 3-point attempt barely beat the final buzzer, but it found the net to give the Clarksville Northwest Vikings a 64-61 double-overtime victory over the Henry County High School Patriots in the first game of the District 14-4A Tournament played on Tuesday night at Gamlin Gymnasium.
Henry County had beaten Northwest twice in the regular season, including a 60-57 triumph in Clarksville on Feb. 6.
Henry County closed the season with a 13-12 mark. The Patriots were 4-4 in district play during the regular season. Tuesday’s game was the final game for seniors Caden Marshall, Javion Boyd, Nick Abbott and Chase Dixon.
Northwest is the host site for the district tournament semifinals and finals. Girls’ semifinal action begins at 6 p.m. Thursday with the No. 1 seeded Henry County Lady Patriots meeting West Creek. West Creek defeated Kenwood 44-38 on Tuesday in the girls’ play-in game between No. 4 and No. 5 seeds. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, No. 2 seed Northwest takes on No. 3 Dickson County. The girls’ consolation game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday with the championship game set for 7:30 p.m. at Northwest.
The boys’ semifinal games will be played on Friday. The fifth-seeded Vikings advance to take on No. 1 seed West Creek at 6 p.m. with No. 2 seed Dickson County battling No. 3 Kenwood at 7:30 p.m. The boys’ consolation game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday with the title game to follow at 7:30 p.m. at Northwest.
Tickets for the district tournament cost $6 and must be purchased on the GoFan website.
VIKINGS 64, PATRIOTS 61 2OT
The game was a battle from the start with the contest tied 25-25 at halftime. Henry County built as much as a 10-point lead in the third quarter but Northwest battled back to tie the contest in both the fourth quarter and first overtime period to set up the dramatic finish.
In the second overtime, Patriot Kayden Kendall hit two free throws to tie the contest at 59-59 before Boyd sank a jumper to give the Patriots a 61-59 lead with just over two minutes left in the second four-minute overtime period. Northwest’s JaQuez Scott scored on a drive with 1:31 remaining to tie the game at 61-61.
Henry County ran down the clock to play for a winning shot and got the ball to Marshall in the paint with under 10 seconds left. His shot was tightly contested and the ball was knocked out of bounds with 2.4 seconds left. Northwest took a timeout before passing the ball inbounds to Menlay who raced across center court to loft his desperation 3-pointer that found its mark and made the Vikings a winner.
Northwest shot the ball well in the first quarter with Menlay tossing in five points, including a 3-pointer, to give the Vikings a 14-11 lead. Luke Stephens came off the Patriots’ bench to hit a 3-pointer and a layup in the first period.
Henry County turned the tables in the second period with a 14-11 scoring edge that knotted the game at 25-25 at the halftime intermission. Marshall provided five points in the second period for the Patriots. Ahmad Harvey sank three 3-point shots to account for most of Northwest’s offense in the second period.
The Patriots appeared to be taking control of the game in the third quarter. Marshall started the frame with a 3-pointer and scored nine points to help Henry County open a 41-31 lead. The Vikings scored the final six points of the third period to cut the Patriots’ advantage to 41-37.
Northwest continued its scoring run to start the fourth quarter and the Vikings captured a 43-41 lead on a 3-point basket by Deante Crawford. Henry County battled back in front to hold a 47-44 edge when Marshall converted on a drive with three minutes left. The Vikings tied the game on a 3-pointer by Harvey with 1:31 left. Henry County ran down the clock to set up a final shot but the ball was knocked away from Boyd with seven seconds left. Henry County kept possession and thought they had gone ahead on a Boyd layup but the basket was waved off by the officials who made a traveling call. Northwest got off a long shot at the buzzer but it missed.
In the first overtime period, the Patriots grabbed a 53-50 lead on a layup by Kendall with two minutes remaining. Harvey hit a 3-point shot to tie the game. Carson Curd hit a 3-pointer to put the Patriots up again but the Vikings scored three points over two possessions to knot the game again.
Henry County had another chance to win at the end. The Patriots put up two shots from under the basket but couldn't get anything to fall as the game went into the second overtime session.
Marshall had a strong game for the Patriots by scoring 24 points. Boyd added 12 points while Curd scored eight. Both Daveon Barker and Kendall checked in with six points. Stephens contributed five points.
The leading scorer for Northwest was Scott with 23 points while Harvey added 20, including six 3-point baskets. Menlay tossed in 15 points with Crawford scoring six.