Irving College boys hold off Eastside

By ROB NUNLEY / Sports Editor for the Southern Standard (McMinnville, Tenn.)

Irving College guard Darrid Wells brings the ball downcourt while being guarded by Eastside’s Tyler Clark during the first half of their game Monday night. (Rob Nunley photo)

With the game literally “on the line,” Irving College’s Dustin Smith and Justin Bouldin came through Monday night.

After their team missed seven straight free throws in the closing moments of Monday’s game against Eastside, Smith came through with a pair of attempts from the charity stripe, and Bouldin connected on the back end of two shots to help the Tigers hold on for a 35-30 victory.

With the win, Irving College moved on to face Morrison in Tuesday night’s semifinals.

Monday’s game started out with momentum in Eastside’s favor. The Bulldogs posted five straight points to take an early lead, but were shut out for the final 3:46 of the first quarter as Irving College went on top 13-5.

Inside play helped the Bulldogs claw their way back into the game, and a putback of a missed attempt at the buzzer from Morgan Wilcher sent the teams into halftime with the Tigers holding a 20-15 lead.

That scoreboard advantage would evaporate throughout the third quarter, thanks to a tough Bulldog defense and five points from Zack Seamons. Trey Clark added four more in the third, as Eastside cut their deficit to 28-26 heading into the game’s final frame.

The Bulldogs never led in the fourth quarter, but Irving College was unable to pull away, thanks largely to their inaccuracy from the charity stripe.

Trailing 32-28, Eastside once again cut its gap to a basket with a shot from Jared Foster. Irving College missed two attempts from the line, but Eastside fared just as poorly, missing its final three free throws.

Forced to foul in an attempt at a comeback, the Bulldogs sent Smith to the line twice in the game’s final minute, but the sixth-grader hit the front end of both pairs of attempts to make it a two-possession game, then Bouldin hit the last of his two shots at the six-second mark to provide the final margin of victory.

Bouldin finished with 10 points to lead the way for the Tigers, while Josh Burton had eight and Smith had seven points. Ethan Grider scored five, Darrid Wells had four and William DeLong had one.

Eastside got nine points from Zack Seamons, with Trey Clark adding five and Brian Najera scoring four. Wilcher added four more, Tyler Hillis scored three, Jesse Slaughter had two, Foster had two more and Austin Young scored one.