3A Region 8 Tourney Final: Fayette Ware defeats Bolivar Central

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fayette Ware defeated Bolivar Central, 49-46, to win this season's TSSAA Class 3A Region 7 Tournament Championship. The Wildcats will host 3A Region 8 runner-up Munford next Monday night, while the Tigers will have to travel to 3A Region 8 Champion Ridgeway.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here are 3 observations from Fayette Ware's win over Bolivar Central:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Taking a punch</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats were down 35-31 late in the third quarter after Tigers senior forward <strong>Tracey</strong> <strong>Jones</strong> made a 3 from the top of the key. It was Bolivar Central's largest lead of the quarter, but in the fourth quarter, both programs traded scores. Junior point guard <strong>Quay</strong> <strong>Hampton</strong> recorded a steal and layup to put Fayette Ware up one. Tigers senior guard <strong>Kylan</strong> <strong>McNeal</strong> returned the favor with his first two points of the night. A stop by the Wildcats led to a layup by junior point guard <strong>Tacarien</strong> <strong>Freeman</strong>. Bolivar Central's sophomore guard <strong>Jacorey</strong> <strong>Stanley's</strong> 3 tied the game at 40-all with 4:21 left the game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jab after jab was thrown by both teams, since an opportunity to host a sectional game was at stake. Fayette Ware went up for good with 41 seconds to go following a layup by senior forward <strong>Devaurius</strong> <strong>Chearis</strong> off an assist by Freeman.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Split free throws by seniors <strong>Eric</strong> <strong>Jones</strong> and <strong>Jeremiah</strong> <strong>Hayes</strong> sealed the win.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”They came in the huddle, and before we (coaches) could say what we needed to say, they knew what they needed to fix,” Chearis said. “They knew they needed to rebound. They knew they needed to get stops. It was just on us to call a couple of sets.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hayes finished with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, annd 4 steals. Jones also had 12 points. Freeman added 11 points, 3 assists, a rebound, and a steal. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Limiting a good one</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats did a great job of defending senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='1665988' first='Kylan' last='McNeal'], who made big shots in the semifinals round against Dyersburg. McNeal saw different defenders throughout the contest, seeing even two defenders each time he drove into the lane. After scoring 15 points against the Trojans, McNeal was held to four points Thursday night. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Making the most of their opportunities </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2089495' first='Jeremiah' last='Hayes'] led Fayette Ware in free throw attempts. He went 6 for 8. Devaurius Chearis went 3 for 4. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Respecting your opponent</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats have Munford coming up, and coach Chearis knows not to take the Cougars lightly. The duo of senior wing <strong>Murray</strong> <strong>Norman</strong> and junior point guard <strong>JaDyn</strong> <strong>Lee</strong> have been productive all season long. Norman had a 40-point and 9-rebound outing in an 85-72 win over Melrose in the semifinals round of the 3A Region 8 Tournament. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>”First of all, they're great kids,” Chearis said. “I give them shoutouts on social media because they're good kids. We are going to have to slow them down in order to beat them. We are going to have to slow those two guys down. And I think we have the players that are capable of doing that. We just have to stay locked in and stay focused.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>All-Region</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jacorey</strong> <strong>Stanley</strong> (Bolivar Central), <strong>JaKylon</strong> <strong>Robertson</strong> (Bolivar Central), <strong>Brayden</strong> <strong>Turnage</strong> (Dyersburg), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1382741' first='Ace' last='Mahaffey']</strong> (Dyersburg), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1927470' first='Jaybyon' last='Snipe']</strong> (Haywood), <strong>Ron Brisbon</strong> (Haywood), McNeal, Chearis, Jones, Hampton, and Hayes (MVP) were named to the 3A Region 8 All-Tournament Team. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->