COALMONT, Tenn. – The 4-seed Community Vikings (14-15, 3-6) took a late lead in the fourth quarter after trailing by 16 at halftime, but were unable to make enough free throws to hold off the 1-seed Cannon County Lions (20-8, 7-1), falling by just three points, 55-52, on Friday night in the District 9-AA Semifinal.

The Vikes shot an abysmal 6-17 from the charity stripe, including going 1-5 in a crucial stretch late in the fourth quarter that would have extended a narrow one-point lead. Instead, Cannon County, despite freshman sensation Miles Alexander fouling out with more than two minutes to go, was able to ride Lukas Phillips’ to the District Championship Game. 

Phillips put in a game-high 19 points to lead all scorers with nine of those coming in the fourth quarter alone. Alexander was the only other Lion to reach double-digits, finishing with 12 points of his own. 

The Vikings saw three different players score in double-figures, led by a team-high 14 points from sophomore Jaxson Williams. Landon Lovvorn and Charlie Haskins each chipped in with 12 points apiece. 

To start, Cannon County jumped on the Vikings early and often, connecting on three three-pointers in the opening period from Alexander and Anderson Lara to go along with eight points from Phillips. When the dust settled, the Lions were ahead by 13 points, 21-8, after Lovvorn’s five points and Masyn Hill coming off the bench to knock down a three-pointer for the Vikes.

In the second quarter, Cannon County continued to play the game at their pace, outscoring Community, 14-11, to take a commanding 35-19 lead into the halftime locker room. Eli Pelham and Alexander each connected from downtown in the period for the Lions while Williams led Community with six points. Lovvorn was the only other Viking able to connect on a field goal, scoring four points in the period, and Community knew they were facing a major mountain to climb just to get back in the game.

Coming out for the second half, that’s actually exactly what the Vikings were able to accomplish, outscoring the top-seed in the district, 20-8, as they held the Lions to just three two-point field goals as a team in the period. Meanwhile, Charlie Haskins began to take over for Community, scoring seven of his 12 points in the third quarter while Williams connected on a pair of triples to spark a Vikings’ comeback attempt. Community trailed by just four points, 43-39, entering the final frame.

Jaxson Williams (5) scored a team-high 14 points in Friday's loss.

David Smith

Lovvorn opened the fourth quarter with Community’s fourth and final made three-pointer of the night to cut the lead to one before Phillips responded on the other end with an old-fashioned three-point play. Both teams continued to trade baskets until Community took their first lead of the second half about halfway through the period before Phillips connected on back-to-back field goals for the Lions to retake the lead for good. Haskins and Williams missed a combined five free throws in this critical stretch as well. 

Then, down by three points, Community fouled Antonio Jones. Jones, whose only points on the night came earlier in the second quarter, split a pair at the line, putting the Lions up by three, 55-52, and Jared Nave had his team quickly foul before the Vikes could get a three-point attempt off. With 1.8 seconds on the clock, Landon Berman stepped up to the line. After missing the first, he intentionally missed the second, hoping for a tip-out catch-and-shoot three-pointer. Austin Stickler did in-fact tap the ball out to where Austin Powers had set up on the left wing, but Powers had shifted to the top of the key on Berman’s second attempt. The clock expired, and the Lions survived to advance to their second-consecutive district title game. 

Community will play Cascade in the 3rd-place game on Monday at 6:00 p.m. at Grundy County LIVE on The Zinger 100.9 and AM 1400.