Stallings buckets send Champs packing

Community's Justin Stallings (5) puts up a jumper over the top of Cascade's Jacob Carkuff. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Anybody looking to move a grand piano or a stuffed bear anytime soon and need some help? Get with No. 5 in the purple and gold of the Community Vikings after their next game to see if he'll lend a hand.

Justin Stallings continues to show he has broad enough shoulders to carry Community basketball wherever they want to go in close, rivalry contests. The senior post scored the final 10 Viking points, including all six in overtime, to help the homestanding Unionville boys to a 39-38 victory over District 9-A neighbor Cascade in front of a jam-packed house.

"It's always good to have a kid on your team that's not afraid of failure. Some people just don't want it, he wants the ball," Community coach Jace Bryant said of Stallings.

Back in February, behind another strong Stallings effort, Community (9-5, 3-2 9-A) downed the Champions for the first time in five years in a thriller. The price of admission looks like more and more of a bargain every time these two get together with the last three showdowns being decided by a total of nine points.

Tuesday night's version contained 11 lead changes and nine ties. The largest margin of the night was a five-point upper hand for the the Champs (7-6, 4-1) reached twice in the third quarter and it shrunk on both occasions less than a minute later.

"To win at the level we want to win at, you've got to win games on the road. We were about 10 more seconds or a play away from being able to do that," Cascade coach Charlie Pope said. "We had our chances. That's all you can ask for."

Viking Cody Pierce has trouble shooting between Brent Ray and Jacob Carkuff. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

A basket by Gerald "Happy" Johnson gave the Champs an 18-16 advantage with 5:54 to go in the third quarter. It was a lead they wouldn't relinquish until David Natale pin-pointed the perfect time for his lone basket of the evening, a 3-pointer 34 seconds into the fourth that tied matters at 29-all.

Stallings followed Natale's trey by dropping in two field goals to put the final touches on a 7-0 run. That gave Community a 33-29 edge with 5:26 remaining in regulation. However, the Purple and Gold wouldn't score again until another Stallings basket with 1:29 to go in the overtime period.

That allowed Cascade to climb back into contention and Zack Hitchcock's layup with 45 ticks left in the fourth tied it at 33-all, which wouldn't change until Jacob Carkuff hit a free throw with 1:43 showing in bonus frame.

Carkuff went on to prove just as valuable for his bunch by netting all of their points down the stretch, including a go-ahead jumper with 15 seconds left to set up the dramatic ending.

During a timeout, Bryant called two plays in case Cascade come out in a full-court press with each designed to get the ball into Stallings' hands for the final shot. Their quarterback came through as expected with a mere 5 seconds to play and their fans leapt to their feet in jubilation.

"It's huge for our community," Bryant said. "We had a lot of Unionville people here. They got to see us play. Maybe they'll come back for the next game, and we'll have an even bigger crowd."

Carkuff got off a 27-footer at the buzzer but the prayer wouldn't fall.

Champion junior Gerald 'Happy' Johnson grabs a rebound next to Zach Haynes (20). (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

"Both of them are warriors," Pope said of Stallings and Carkuff. "I've got a lot of respect for Justin. I wouldn't mind paying to watch him play. He's a competitor. He plays extremely hard. He does a really good job of what he does. He's the heart and soul of their team, but they've got guys around him that are good too. They're very complimentary of his game.

"Jacob Carkuff is a warrior in his own right. He's made plays time and time again for me. They're just two really good high school basketball players that enjoy competing and are fun to watch. It's a shame in a game like that that a team has to lose."

Oddly enough, the Vikings pulled out the win without making a single free throw, blanking on four attempts.

"Our goal is to get to the line a lot because we're an inside team. We want to pound it down low and want to get to the line," Bryant said.

"We talk about winning free-throw battles all the time, it just didn't happen for us tonight."

The whistles didn't tilt the other way either. The Champs only had four tries at the charity stripe themselves, making three.

Each team netted only one 3-pointer as well.

"We executed well," Pope said. "We got the looks we wanted. We got inside touches.

"This is a tough gym for us to shoot in for some reason. We've never shot well in this gym. Thank the Lord I ain't got to come back here this year."

Community wing Wylder Norris tosses in a hook between Champion defenders Gerald 'Happy' Johnson (left) and Ricky Hord. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Wylder Norris contributed 12 points for the victors. Carkuff finished with 15.

Cascade was up 10-6 after the first quarter. Both defenses continued to get after it in the second period. The Champs saw their slight edge over the hosts shrink to 14-12 at the half.

Up next for Community is another intra-county showdown as Webb visits for homecoming on Saturday night. The boys are scheduled to tip off around 7:30.

"We've still got to be hungry," Bryant said. "Tomorrow we're going to come in and work harder than we did yesterday. We've got to be hungry to beat Webb. Then, after that, we're going to work harder to beat MTCS. We've got to stay hungry."

Pope is incorporating his 24-hour rule prior to their next matchup. "We don't celebrate wins longer than 24 hours. We don't dwell on losses longer than 24 hours."

That showdown is another road district test as they head to Murfreesboro to battle Middle Tennessee Christian on Friday night. It will be the seventh time in their last eight games where they'll be away from their home floor.