COALMONT, Tenn. – It wasn’t pretty, but the 4-seed Community Vikings (14-14, 2-6) held off a late surge from 5-seed Chapel Hill (7-17, 0-8) to keep their season alive and advance to the District 9-AA Semifinal, 58-53, inside of Ricky Richards Gymnasium on Monday.

Community’s Landon Lovvorn, coming off of a 28-point outing on Friday night against the Rockets, led all scorers once again with a game-high 20 points. He was the only Viking to score in double-figures, but Charlie Haskins chipped in with nine points, including six in the fourth quarter, as well as Landon Berman and Josh Powers each chipping in with eight points on the night.  

For the Rockets, Tristan Goad and Andruw Myers tied for a team-high 15 points, but they were only able to combine for five points in the fourth quarter. Jon Hightower chipped in with eight points while the lone senior, Matthew Yeager, ended his career with six points from a pair of three-pointers.

Community jumped on Chapel Hill from the get-go, taking a 17-9 lead at the end of the opening period of play. Lovvord and Austin Stickler came out aggressive yet again, combining for 10 points while Moe Berman found the range from downtown for the Vikes’ first made three-pointer of the night. 

In the second quarter, however, the Rockets began to claw their way back. They connected on four three-pointers in the second period alone, bringing their first-half total to five. Goad knocked down a pair of threes while Myers and Yeager each made one as well. Lovvorn did his best to counter, scoring 10 points of his own in the frame, but a pair of Powers’ free throws were the only other points the Vikes could find to compliment him. In all, Chapel Hill outscored Community, 18-12, to trim the deficit going into the halftime locker room to just two points, 29-27. 

Coming out for the second half, Community made it their mission to attack the basket and force Chapel Hill to put them on the free-throw line. This is exactly what happened, as the Vikings took 10 free throws in the third quarter alone after having only three attempts in the entire first half. Lovvorn, Jaxson Williams, and Charlie Haskins each led Community in scoring with four points, four points, and three points, respectively, in the period.  In total, six Vikings scored at least two points in the quarter.

Meanwhile, Myers for Chapel Hill scored eight of his 15 in the third quarter alone, but Goad and Hightower adding just two points apiece, allowing Community to outscore the Rockets, 17-12, and take a 46-39 lead going into the final frame. 

In the fourth quarter, Haskins started things off connected on 3/4 free throws before Powers scored his only basket in the period, followed by Haskins’ second and final field goal in the game, before Landon Berman closed things out with four consecutive points of his own. Haskins added one last free throw for good measure to go up by five points, 58-53. 

The Rockets were unable to score enough in the final frame with Goad and Myers combining for just five points. Hightower led the way with four points, Yeager connected on his second triple, and Josh Doud scored his third field goal of the night to open up the period for Chapel Hill, but it was not enough. Despite outscoring the Vikes, 14-12, Community held on to win, 58-53, to keep their season alive.

Community shot 14/22 at the free-throw line on the night while Chapel Hill shot just 3/4 at the charity stripe. After hitting five three-pointers in the first half, the Rockets only made one in the second half. The Vikings connected on just two triples all game – both coming in the first half – and did not knock down a single shot from outside the arc in the final 16 minutes. 

Community also secures a berth in the Region 5-AA Tournament. 

Chapel Hill’s season ends at 7-17 (0-8).

Community improves to (14-14, 2-6) and advances to take on top-seeded Cannon County in the District 9-AA Semifinals scheduled for Thursday night at 6:00 p.m. in Grundy County.