Stories from Friday, February 2, 2018

Following a huge 33-30 win at home over Eagleville on January 9 and a blowout victory over Fayetteville six days later, the Cornersville Lady Bulldogs found themselves sitting atop the District 8-A standings and debuting at #9 in the Class A Associated Press Top 10 poll. But coming into Tuesday night’s game against Moore County (19-5, 8-0), the Lady Bulldogs had lost three of four and faced the number one team in the district, who had just demolished Cornersville by 38 points six days prior.

The Cornersville boys basketball squad has been the tale of two teams during the 2017-18 campaign coming into Tuesday night’s game versus Moore County (5-18, 3-4). The Bulldogs (4-14, 2-6) played second place Eagleville tough the entire contest but ultimately lost by nine points and followed that with another close loss to first place Fayetteville by 11 points. Cornersville followed those two close losses by giving last place Huntland its only District 8-A win of the year, while scoring a season-low 28 points and continued its decline with a three-point loss to Cascade, who the Bulldogs had beaten easily by 14 points to start district competition.

The Forrest Lady Rockets’ only two District 12-AA losses this season have come at the hands of Nolensville with the first defeat by 15 points at Chapel Hill. In the second meeting on Tuesday night in Williamson County, Forest had a great chance to even the regular season series, but let it slip away in a gut wrenching 45-43 setback. The difference in the game was about four bad passes by the Lady Rockets that cost them dearly.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Donald Crisman has more than a half-century of Super Bowl memories behind him, from taking a 24-hour train ride to Super Bowl II to seeing his beloved New England Patriots win in overtime last year. But he says Sunday's matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Patriots just might be his final big game...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Halftimes in the NFL are typically a 12-minute sprint. Players rush back to the locker room, maybe take a bathroom break, get a few words of advice from their coaches and head back out for the second half. That pacing completely changes at the Super Bowl when the elaborate halftime shows lead to a 30-minute break that leads to more time for adjustments, distractions and the need to stay loose...

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Nick Foles has a calling far greater than throwing touchdown passes. If Foles leads the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots, he'll become a folk hero in a city that has desperately waited for a championship since 1960...

Forrest’s Ryley McClaran shattered Corey Shankle’s single game scoring record of 40 points on Friday night in an 80-66 win at Giles County when he poured in 51 points versus the Bobcats. On Tuesday night at Nolensville, McClaran and his band of rockin Rockets turned in another dramatic performance, gutting out a 69-65 overtime win that had every twist and turn imaginable.

The Marshall County Tigerettes traveled to Nolensville Thursday without Hannah Davis and had a hobbled Alli Hobbs, but still came within four points of beating the first-place Lady Knights in a tough 51-47 loss. “We had our chance with some adversity,” MCHS coach David Steely said. “It was a good game and I am proud of how we played with some tough situations, but you don’t get that chance very often and you have to win some of those games.”

After a tough 76-65 loss at Forrest that began a five-game District 12-AA road trip, the Marshall County Tigers have reeled off four straight league wins, including a hard fought 73-72 victory at Nolensville Thursday night. “It was a tough Nolensville game and I knew coming in we would have some issues as far as their post players, they are very aggressive and attack the boards,” MCHS coach Lavon King said. “It was one of those things where we just tried to get a little bit here, a little bit there.” “I thought the second half defensively we stepped it up and got a lot of easy baskets off of steals and stuff and that’s to my guys, they really stepped it up when they had to.”