UNIONVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 4 seed Community Vikings (16-10, 3-5) overwhelmed No. 5 seed Chapel Hill (6-21, 0-8) with a barrage of three-pointers to advance to the District 9-AA semifinals and punch their ticket to the Region 5-AA quarterfinals inside The Roger Kent Brothers Gymnasium on Tuesday, 70-43.

“It’s not necessarily ideal to be in this position [play-in game], but I thought our guys handled all the outside noise really well and focused on just one day at a time,” Community head coach Hunter Ferrell said postgame, “Especially having played them a week ago and knowing you’re going to turn around and play the same team at the same place, it can lead to a lot of overconfidence. Our guys did a really good job on focusing on the things that we can control which was our mentality going into it. I don’t think our guys overlooked Chapel Hill. When we took the shots we wanted to take, good things happened.”

Charlie Haskins spearheaded the relentless attack all night long for the Vikings, finishing with a season-high 37 points, and he knocked down six of his team’s 12 total three-pointers in the game.

“If Charlie Haskins is going to hit four threes in the first quarter and six for the game, we’re going to be pretty good. He makes it look kind of effortless at times,” Ferrell said.

After taking down the Rockets by 32 points on Feb. 10, 63-31, the Vikings came in to the rematch and got the party started early. Haskins connected on four of his treys in the first quarter alone, scoring 15 of Community’s 20 points in the opening period as the hosts opened up a 20-11 lead. 

In the second stanza, the hosts kept their collective foot on the gas, outscoring Chapel Hill 16-8 to take a 36-19 lead heading into the halftime locker room. Even Jon Hightower’s buzzer-beating three for the Rockets could not dampen the mood heading into the break, despite Hightower eventually finishing with a team-high 18 points. 

Coming out for the second half, Chapel Hill actually outscored the Vikings, 14-12, to trim the lead to 48-33 heading into the final frame, but Haskins took over in the fourth to end the Rockets’ season for good. Community’s lead guard scored 12 of his 15 second-half points in the final period as the Vikings outscored the visitors 22-10 to seal their spot in the District 9-AA semifinals against No. 1 seed Loretto.

“Our guys have never lacked confidence. No matter what happens the night before, they come in the next day and they’re ready for whatever is ahead of them,” Ferrell said, “We know Loretto is a good team and that they’re used to having a lot of success. Coach Tipps does a great job over there with adjusting and putting his guys in good spots, but we’re going to go in with the confidence that when we take care of the basketball, take the right shots, and defend the way that we’re capable of, we can be a tough team to beat. We just have to make sure that we get a good two days of prep going in, and then give the best team in our district a good shot on Friday to hopefully get an opportunity on Saturday night. 

The Vikings improve to 16-10 overall on the year. Ferrell’s squad takes on No. 1 seed Loretto on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. at Cascade High School in Bell Buckle.

COMMUNITY: C. Haskins 37 (6), J. Williams 10 (2), A. Tocchio 7 (2), J. Lawell 5, M. Hill 4 (1), L. Reed 3 (1), M. Thompson 2. 

CHAPEL HILL: J. Hightower 18 (3), J. Willis 9, H. Matlock 6 (1), A. Myers 5, E. Leverette 3 (1), J. Doud 2.