I hope that we made Unionville proud with how we played and how we fought this year”

Community Vikings' Head Coach Hunter Ferrell

HOHENWALD, Tenn. – After a dominant win over their cross-county rival Cascade in the District 9-AA consolation game a week ago, the Community Vikings’ (17-12, 3-5) furious rally came up just short in overtime at Lewis County (18-8, 5-1) on Saturday night, 61-55, in the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal.

“Our guys did a good job of just staying with it,” said Vikings’ first-year head coach Hunter Ferrell, “They were hitting a lot of shots early, and we had to switch up defenses every once in a while. We were finally able to get out in transition a bit later on which helped us a ton, and we picked up some crucial offensive rebounds because it felt like we just couldn’t hit anything from outside. Our guys did a great job of sticking with it and finding some easy buckets down the stretch. Just a few bounces didn’t go our way. We would have loved to pull it out, but at the end of the day the difference between winning and losing at this point in the season can come down to one possession, and we were unable to be one possession better by the end of regulation.”

“I’m super proud of the fight from our guys having to go up against an extremely talented team on the road. To get down double digits and still stay in the fight…I just wish we could have made one more play.”

Community trailed by as many as 12 points at certain stages against the Panthers, but the Vikings were able to fight back and tie the game up at 47 heading to force overtime. Charlie Haskins finished with a team-high 18 points, Josh Powers saw his career come to a close with 12 points on the night, and Andrew Tocchio chipped in with two treys for eight points.

For Lewis County, Maddox Tanner led all scorers with a game-high 21 points, but he scored 11 of them in overtime alone. Bo Banks finished with 17 points while Kobe Feichtinger added 10 points.

Early on, it seemed like the Panthers could not miss from outside as the hosts raced out to a 22-11 lead at the end of the opening period. Feichtinger nailed three triples in the quarter himself, Tanner hit one, and Banks knocked down a three-pointer. The Vikings also connected on three treys to stay within reach, but struggled elsewhere on the floor offensively. 

However, Haskins’ penetration slowed the game down in the second stanza, allowing Community to trim the lead to eight points heading into the halftime locker room, 34-26. Haskins led the Vikings with eight points in the frame as well as Powers scoring four points himself. For Lewis County, Banks scored seven points in the period, but the Panthers only connected on one three in the second.

“I told the guys going into halftime that it had been a minute since we’ve been down like that at halftime,” Ferrell said, “We were leading against Loretto, against Cascade, we were tied at Summertown, and at Clay County and at Loretto to close the regular season. It had been a while, but I just told them that we’re the same team. We just had to stay the course and play one possession at a time, and we did that to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance.”

Coming out for the second half, the Vikings slowly but surely chipped away at the Panthers’ lead. After outscoring the hosts, 9-8, in the third quarter to cut the lead to 42-35 heading into the final frame.

Neither team scored for the first few minutes until Powers broke the seal with a putback of a Haskins’ miss. Tanner then threw it away right to Haskins against the Vikings’ zone, allowing Community’s lead guard to go coast-to-coast and cut the lead to three points, 42-39.

As the quarter ticked on, the clock ticked past five minutes without Lewis County scoring a basket. That drought would extend when Powers picked off a pass that led to another Haskins layup, this time to give the Vikings their first lead of the night at 43-42 with just under three minutes remaining.

Phenix McDonald finally broke the points seal for the Panthers at around the two-minute mark, getting to the line and splitting a pair to tie the game at 43. On Community’s ensuing possession, Haskins knifed his way to the basket for a tough right-handed layup to put the visitors back on top, 45-43, with less than two minutes to go.

After Dakota Hull tied the game underneath for the Panthers with 1:30 to go, the Vikings looked to run down the clock and hold for the final shot. Instead, the official responsible for the five-second count called a five-second violation after only counting to four (This direct violation and incorrect application of the rule is clearly shown on video from the High Forest Sports Network’s livestream of the game on YouTube at the 1:17:41 mark).

On the ensuing Panthers’ possession, the same official called a foul on a Maddox Tanner drive, allowing the hosts to take a 47-45 lead with less than a minute to go.

With his team’s season on the line, Charlie Haskins came through once again, tying the game on a pair of free throws after he was fouled with 7.5 seconds left on a strong drive to the basket, sending the game into overtime at 47-47.

However, Community was unable to pull it out in the extra session. Powers, Jaxon Williams, and Andrew Tocchio all fouled out OT, and the Panthers’ Tanner took advantage with 11 points in the period alone to end the Vikings’ season.

Ferrell’s first season as a head coach was a special one, and he’s proud of the fight that his guys have shown since day one.

“I remember talking to them in October, telling them that I’m going to remember them, good or bad, because they are my first team,” Ferrell said, “Just to see the growth they’ve had since getting to them in May – as players, as young men – they’ve just been super bought in to everything that we’ve wanted to do. Life throws adversity at you and you’ve just got to get up to keep fighting, and that’s what I loved about this team. Every single night, they were fighting until the clock hit zero, no matter what happened in the game. I thought we were still getting better as the season went along into late-February. They showed how much they loved the game, how blessed they were to put on that Community jersey, and I hope that we made Unionville proud with how we played and how we fought this year.”

Ferrell also gave time to talk about his three seniors, elaborating on how much they’ve meant to the Community Vikings program throughout their time in Unionville.

“The three seniors [Jaxon Williams, Zach Leathers, and Josh Powers] took care of their business in the classroom, they were good leaders in the locker room, our guys love them, and they worked really hard,” Ferrell said, “Jaxon Williams is a bit more quiet and reserved, but he kind of came out of his shell and became more of a vocal leader for us. Josh Powers is a really tough kid, and I think Saturday night was a perfect example. His shots weren’t going down early, but he stayed with it and made plenty of plays down the stretch to give us a chance to win. Zach Leathers has such an enjoyable personality. He never has bad days on that front, and he always brought energy and a positive mindset to the team. I’m super appreciative to those three guys for what they gave to our program and what they did for me as a first-year head coach in their senior year.”

The Community Vikings’ 2025-26 season comes to a close with a 17-12 record overall.