Robertson County Connection
SPRINGFIELD WEATHER

WH Heritage boys fall to Clarksville Academy in season opener




White House Heritage’s Jared Brummett (12) thanks a teammate for an assist.BRADY McATAMNEY

White House Heritage’s Jared Brummett (12) thanks a teammate for an assist.BRADY McATAMNEY

With basketball season finally back, the Clarksville Academy Cougars wasted no time hitting the court and filling up the net.

They scored 41 points in the first half of their 69-44 victory over the White House Heritage Patriots on Monday night.

“We solidified the way that we want to play, and it showed our guys that we need to play this way, and that’s inside-out,” said CA coach Matt Wallace. “We’ve got to have post touches every time down the floor, whether that be Daniel Loos or Jeremiah Smith or Will Mabry, Nick Whitlow, Weston Bell. That’ll create open looks for our guards, but we want our post touching the ball every time down the floor.”

All five names Wallace mentioned were involved in the offensive explosion, as Loos led the team with 14 points. Mabry added 11, Smith had nine, Whitlow had five and Bell had two.

Dalton Daniels (8 points), Donovan Hardison (6), Cornelius Stevens (6), Cooper Wallace (3), Bryce Webster (3), Jacques Wyatt (2) and Shawn Scott (1) also registered in the box score.

First-year coach Carl Miller (far right) watches his Patriots from the bench.BRADY McATAMNEY

First-year coach Carl Miller (far right) watches his Patriots from the bench.BRADY McATAMNEY

However, the Cougars feel as though their defense lacked, as speedy Patriot guard Aaron Neely lit the home team up for 15 points.

“We have to get much better defensively,” Wallace said. “We allowed too many dribble drives or direct drives to the basket, which creates the need to help from our post players.”

In addition to Neely’s 15, Ben Branlund scored nine points, Jared Brummett had six, Taye Francis and Daniel Bale scored five apiece, Caleb Guisewite added three and Zachary Harrison had one.

As is the case with many teams who lose their first game, the Patriots were unsatisfied with their performance – but they know they can take a lot out of it given that it was the first game for head coach Carl Miller and his roster that is short six seniors from last season.

“We learned a lot,” Miller said. “We’ve got to go back to work. I think our kids may have underestimated (Clarksville Academy) a little bit. Our coaching staff didn’t.

“I thought we got away from our offense. We did some things we didn’t (do) at practice these last few weeks. There’s a lot of change going on, so we’re trying to work through that change. There’s potential there.”

Leave a Reply