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Justin Mackey tries to drive to the basket, but Spring Garden's Kaleb Morris stands in the way.
The Panthers trailed by only three points at the break, and trimmed that deficit to one early in the third quarter. However, that’s when the Wildcats took control and distanced themselves from Spring Garden in a 65-36 win in the Cherokee County Tournament semifinals.
The win propels the top-seeded Wildcats (12-8) to Saturday’s county championship game. They await the winner of Friday’s Cedar Bluff-Cherokee County battle. Spring Garden drops to 2-19 with the loss.
Justin Mackey led the Wildcat charge. He led all scorers with 25 points, including five 3-pointers.
His effort helped turn a 26-25 Sand Rock lead with just over six minutes to go in the third into a 48-28 bulge heading into the fourth.
Sand Rock coach Brian Mackey said his team fed off of Justin Mackey’s hot shooting.
“When Justin got hot, it opened things up a lot,” he said. “That was a big key. He had most of his points in the third quarter, and without that third quarter, I don’t know if we could have won.”
Spring Garden head coach Ricky Austin was frustrated with his team’s second-half performance.
“We didn’t have any turnovers in the first half, and believed we could win in the first half,” he said. “The second half, we turned it over a lot and they just whipped us. They probably exposed every weakness we had, which is a lot more than just basketball.
“Sand Rock finally bowed up and took charge of the game, and understanding how to take charge of the game was the difference. They shot the ball well. It was basically like shooting practice for them. We didn’t defend at all.”
Spring Garden was led by Andrew Allen’s 14 points. Jake Scott had six points, four rebounds, three steals and three assists. Andrew Maddox finished with five points.
Mackey wasn’t the only player to score in double figures for the Wildcats. Brannon Burt added 12 points. Justin Kyser and Chase Brisendine both netted 11.
With the semifinals behind them, the Wildcats are turning their attention to Saturday’s championship. They’re looking to win their first county title since 2000.
“It’s nice to have the No. 1 seed, no doubt, but it’s not going to be easy,” Brian Mackey said. “It’s nice to advance, and it’s nice to be there. Hopefully, we can win it.”
Junior Varsity Boys
Cherokee County 40, Sand Rock 30 – Zeph Fife and Kenny Akin both netted 10 points to pace Cherokee County past top-seeded Sand Rock in the junior high boys tournament on Thursday.
Cherokee County advances to Saturday's junior high boys championship game. The Warriors will meet the winner of Friday's Spring Garden-Cedar Bluff game.
Hudson Grimes added eight points for the Warriors. Jayde Boatfield and Trevor Perry both had five points.
Drew Norris and Skylar Blankenship led Sand Rock with nine points apiece. Austin Carver had five points.
The two teams battled to a 13-13 tie at the half. The Warriors held a 26-20 lead at the end of the third quarter.
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