3A Region 7 semifinals round: 4 observations
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Bolivar Central defeated Dyersburg, 49-45, while Fayette Ware held on to defeat Haywood, 58-50. The Tigers and Wildcats will battle it out on Thursday night for the TSSAA 3A Region 7 Tournament Championship. Here are 4 observations from Tuesday night:…
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Continue ReadingBolivar Central defeated Dyersburg, 49-45, while Fayette Ware held on to defeat Haywood, 58-50.
The Tigers and Wildcats will battle it out on Thursday night for the TSSAA 3A Region 7 Tournament Championship.
Here are 4 observations from Tuesday night:
Turnage is a handful
Breyden Turnage Breyden Turnage 6'8" | C Dyersburg (baseball) | 2025 State TN was a handful for Bolivar Central, especially when he caught the basketball at the elbow. The 6-foot-8 junior forward finished well around the rim and did so with multiple defenders in his face. Turnage has solid footwork and great awareness on the court. He doesn’t force a lot of shots. Turnage allows the game to come to him. He can make shots from 15-feet out. Turnage finished with 17 points. Dyersburg’s 2023 season is over, but Turnage did all he could to give his team a chance of extending its season.
Calm place
Bolivar Central needed some calmness in the third quarter when the Trojans used an 11-0 run, which started at the end of the second quarter, to get within three. The Tigers’ senior guard Kylan McNeal was the team’s calm place. He scored five straight points to give Bolivar Central a 34-27 lead. McNeal started the game off hot, knocking down two 3s that helped the Tigers jump out to an early 14-2 lead. McNeal, who went 5 for 6 from the free throw line, finished the night with 15 points.
No quitting
Haywood was down by as many as 23 points in a win or go home situation against Fayette Ware. The Tomcats battled back and got within 51-48 with under two minutes left to play. Haywood could have folded when it was outscored 18-5 in the third quarter. It could have folded earlier after being outscored 15-6 in the second quarter. But, the Tomcats, last season’s Division I Class 3A State Tournament runner-up, didn’t cave. They showed fight until the final buzzer. LeKendick Phillips and Jaybyon Snipe both finished with 15 points. Ron Brisbon added 12.
Surviving and advancing
The Wildcats will take losing their 23-point lead, especially since they’re in Thursday night’s regional tournament championship game and already has a spot in a sectional game next Monday night. Thursday night will decide whether or not Fayette Ware will host a sectional game, it’s first since the 2021 season, or go on the road for the second-consecutive season. The Wildcats are on, sort of, a revenge tour, as they eliminated Haywood, which they lost to on the road last season in a sectional game.
Also, Fayette Ware had lost to the Tomcats twice in the regular season, so this win meant a lot to guys like Tacarien Freeman, Jeremiah Hayes Jeremiah Hayes 6'0" | SG Fayette Ware | 2024 State TN , Eric Jones Eric Jones 5'11" | CG Fayette Ware | 2024 State TN , Tarecous Stevens Tarecous Stevens 6'6" | SF Fayette Ware | 2025 State TN , and Devaurius Chearis.
”Tonight, Jeremiah was real vocal. He’s been vocal all week about not going home and getting a sub-state game at home,” Wildcats head coach Demarius Chearis said about Hayes, who finished with a team-high 14 points. “But, Jeremiah, Eric, and Tarecous have been doing a lot of talking the last three practices. Those guys were hurt when Haywood sent us home last year, so he (Jeremiah) wasn’t going to go out without a fight.
”It was in him tonight to step up and be the leader that has been in him since he’s been in the 10th grade.”
Freeman added 11 points, while Stevens pitched in 12.
Special night
At halftime of the Bolivar Central-Dyersburg contest, Fayette Ware’s senior guard Jeremiah Hayes Jeremiah Hayes 6'0" | SG Fayette Ware | 2024 State TN was presented with his 1,000-point basketball.