Just tell me it’s not true

As we continue looking back into the past of the fall of 2007 in Marshall County sports history, it comes with a very heavy heart, broken actually.

When I started this I knew at some point during the journey there was going to be a large amount of sadness, but I didn’t expect it to come this soon.

I have never been the kind of sports writer that does things from a far, I like to be in the action, getting to know the coaches, the kids, and the parents.

That comes with a price, most notably when one of the young athletes suddenly passes away.

My first heartbreak was DeShaun Greer, who was a 2008 graduate of Marshall County High School, a great two-sport athlete for the Tigers, and an even better young man.

Greer signed a scholarship to play basketball at Kings University in Bristol and was senior in college when he was tragically murdered in 2014.

He was 24 years old.

I worked with his mom Kim at Saturn and really liked the entire family, covering DeShaun from middle school thru high school.

That was tough.

Then in 2017, Cornersville’s Bryan Giles was killed in a household accident at just 15 years old.

Giles was a sophomore on the Bulldogs’ football team and his passing left a undeniable mark on his teammates, who went on to carry his number 62 jersey to every game, including back-to-back state tournament runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018.

That was very sad, but very inspirational.

Now, I got hit with a ton of bricks this week when I found out that Lewisburg’s Dane Pickle passed away last week from health complications.

I knew Dane really good, spending many a ballgame in the dugout with his coveted A-Plus Collision Center team in the Marshall County Babe Ruth League and during the all-star seasons.

Dane was funny, played with a tremendous heart, and was a very loving, smart young man.

He was 24, my daughter will be 24 in November, and I cannot imagine how devastated his parents Danny and Jill and his sister Taylor are right now.

All of humanity is a little less full today. We will miss you Dane and hopefully we can carry on your name and spirit through your kindness to others.

Middle school hoops breeding ground for success

Middle school basketball got underway in the first week of November in 2007 and CMS coach Joy McMasters finally got the game she wanted that didn’t happen the season before.

The Lady Bulldogs were coming off an 18-1 season, but wanted the final measuring stick versus longtime foe Moore County.

The two teams were scheduled to play in the final game of the 2006-2007 campaign, but the contest was cancelled.

Cornersville had won its season opener a few days prior to hosting the Raiderettes, who didn’t know what hit them as the Lady Dawgs stormed out of the gate behind a stout defensive effort by current Forrest High School assistant coach McKenzie Hopkins and Brittany Crowell.

Hopkins stole the ball several times in the first half and tagged-teamed with Crowell and Ashley Warren to build an insurmountable 26-4 halftime lead.

Moore County never recovered, scoring just four more points the rest of the game as the Lady Bulldogs cruised to 40-6 win.

Second year boys coach Adrian Wilson had the Bulldogs fired up in the second game of the night, maybe a bit too much as they turned the ball over several times in a first half that ended in a 10-10 draw.

The Bulldogs also trailed 17-14 at the end of the third period before stepping on the gas behind an 8-2 run to lead by nine points.

The Raiders responded with a 6-0 run and had the ball trailing by just three when Brandon Lowe made the hustle play of the night for the Bulldogs when he raced down the floor after a Cornersville miss to block a shot in the paint.

Dillon Bean sealed the deal moments later when he nailed both ends of a one-and-one situation from the free throw line and Wilson was ecstatic as he secured his first win ever over Moore County.

"This is a big win for us and the program," Wilson said. "It is the first time I have coached a victory over a Moore County team at any level since I have been here."

The Bulldogs had a balanced scoring attack with Spencer Gault leading the way with six points, Blake Poteat had five, and Brandon Lowe, Nick Lowe, Jacob Gentry, and Bean all tallied four points apiece.

The CMS girls rolled on with a 32-17 win over Elkmont in the Cornersville Athletic Booster Club Tournament as Hopkins had a game-high 12 points and current Cornersville High School coach Martha Jane McMasters had six.

The Lady Bulldogs beat Columbia Academy 37-22 in the tournament title game to remain undefeated on the season.

The inexperienced Bulldogs squad fell 56-21 to CA in the consolation game.

Midway through the season, the Lady Bulldogs remained undefeated at 10-0 and hosted Elkton in an early December matchup at home.

McMasters threw a 1-3-1 defense at the Lady Elks and went up 10-1 at the end of the first quarter and 16-7 at the half.

The CMS defense was too much for Elkton, which scored just three points in the third period while the Lady Dawgs exploded for 19 points in the stanza to put the game away.

The Lady Bulldogs won two more games before the Christmas break and came back with a tough task, travelling to Waynesboro on January 4, 2008 for the Rotary Classic.

Things looked very good for the squad that had not lost a regular season game for two years as they led 21-12 at the half.

The Lady Wildcats began to scratch and claw their way back in to the game, taking a late third quarter lead.

There was very little fourth quarter scoring until a Kaitlin Rodgers basket down low gave the Lady Bulldogs a 30-29 lead with a minute and half remaining in the contest.

A Taylor Hatchett jumper put Wayne County back in front and after a questionable offensive foul call on Cornersville with 30 seconds left, the Lady Wildcats escaped with the 32-30 win.

The Lady Bulldogs went in to a late season tailspin, losing two more games before the start of the James C. Haile Tournament at MTCS in late January.

McMasters’ squad broke out in a big way, scoring a season-high 57 points in a big 57-44 win over the Rockvale Lady Rockets.

Hopkins went off, scoring a season-high 27 points and Crowell poured in 19 points in the first round win.

Next up was the rematch with Wayne County, a game the Lady Bulldogs wanted since losing at Waynesboro earlier in the month.

Cornersville fell behind 14-6 early before mounting a comeback that led to a 27-26 lead on a Hopkins bucket with 20 seconds remaining in the third period.

The Lady Bulldogs could not sustain their momentum as Wayne County outscored CMS 12-4 in the final period in the season ending loss for Cornersville.

LMS teams go deep in postseason

Up in the county seat, first-year LMS coach David Lovell had lost the season opener to Meridianville, Alabama before returning home to take on Mt. Pleasant and the hometown Tigers fell behind 7-0 early.

A Jesse Kilpatrick steal and feed to Kevin Peterson got things going and with just three seconds remaining in the first half, Peterson stole an inbounds pass under the LMS basket and laid it in to give LMS a lead they would not surrender.

Lovell got his first win as the Tigers ran away with a 35-18 triumph as Peterson led all scorers in the game with 18 points.

Brock Spencer had eight points, Brandon Bush six, and Cody Vernon had four points, four blocks, and eight rebounds.

LaCord Crawford also had four points and Aaron Thomason, J.J. Contreras, and Barry Mayes all netted two markers apiece.

The Tigerettes didn’t fare so well as they only trailed 12-9 at the half before scoring just six more points the rest of the way in a 34-15 loss.

Keyarra Allen scored 12 of the 15 points for LMS.

The Tigerettes lost 35-17 to Whitthorne with Allen once again in double figures with 13 points. Megan Sanders added 4.

Peterson went off versus Whitthorne, scoring 25 points in a close 57-51 win.

Bush was also in double figures with 12 points and Spencer, Thomason, and Jalen Jones had six points apiece and Mayes added a deuce.

A few days later, both squads lost to Fayetteville.

On November 19, Mt. Pleasant got the sweep over the Tigerettes in a 45-29 win as Austyn Whaley scored nine points and Allen added eight.

The Tigers stomped Mt. Pleasant 54-19 for a regular season sweep as Peterson scored a game-high 26 points, while Vernon had 11, Mayes and Bush had six, and Crawford finished with five points.

LMS hosted its second annual Christmas Tournament before the break and the Tigerettes broke a season long drought as they picked up their first win of the season over Cameron Middle School.

The game was a back and forth affair, tied at 22-22 at the end of the third quarter before Cameron took a 25-24 lead.

Keondra Powell scored for LMS and then Mary Medley came up with a steal and fed Whaley on the run for a layup, but Cameron fought back to make it a one point game with three minutes left in the game.

Powell and Allen scored on back-to-back possessions in the low post for LMS and Whaley scored gain to give the Tigerettes a seemingly 34-27 comfortable lead.

In too many games during the season this was the spot where the Tigerettes struggled and Cameron came back with a 5-0 run to make it a 34-32 contest with a few seconds left, but Whaley dribbled out the clock and LMS had its first win of the season.

The win buoyed the Tigerettes (4-11) as they won three more games and made a respectable third place finish at the Southern Middle Tennessee Conference Tournament at E.A. Cox.

Back to the LMS Tigers and the Christmas Tournament.

LMS also took on the now closed Cameron Middle School in the tournament finale and things looked extremely bleak for the Tigers as they fell in to a hole, trailing 45-38 with 1:30 remaining in the game.

What happened next was one of the wildest comebacks I have seen in my 13 years at the Tribune.

Peterson scored to make it a five-point game and after a Cameron turnover, their players began to start arguing with each other in a timeout huddle.

After the stoppage, Peterson drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points and on the next touch, Thomason stole the ball and scored to tie the game with 40 seconds left.

Incredibly, the Panthers coughed it up again and Thomason drilled a jumper with 20 seconds left to seal the comeback victory.

LMS (9-8) finished a highly successful season with a second place finish at the Southern Middle Tennessee Conference Tournament, losing to the host Cougars 37-28 in the title game.

It was just the beginning for Lovell, who went on to great success with some great teams and is still the coach at LMS.

North of the river

North of the Duck River, the two Chapel Hill Middle School teams were underway as well and the first game I covered was versus Liberty.

After a blowout loss at Summertown, FMS girls coach Sherrie Jones stirred up the pot with a lineup change and it worked as the Lady Rockets rolled to a 38-13 win over the Lady Patriots.

Adrean Jordan led the way for the Lady Rockets, scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds while Mandi Conley had six points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals.

Scarlett Roberson had four points and Candace Daughrity added a deuce for the Lady Rockets.

Second-year FMS boys’ coach Todd Garrison also lit a fire under his Rockets, who pasted the Patriots 56-34 with Zach Ray leading the way with a game-high 16 points.

Logan Wheeler was also in double figures with 10 points and Ryan Daughrity scored nine, Colby Anglin netted five points. Marshall Hunter, Zach Horvath all had four points, and Brookes Lamb chipped in with two points.

The Rockets lost coach Garrison, who moved to Kentucky and Forrest High School coach Davy McClaran guided the squad for the remainder of the season.

The Rockets beat Rickman 39-22 in the first round of the James C. Haile as Ray scored a team-high 11 points.

The Lady Rockets’ season ended in the same round as they suffered a 29-22 season ending loss to the South Fentress Lady Buffaloes.

The Rockets (12-6) took on Waynesboro in the next round and fell 50-39 to the Wildcats in the season finale.

Next week will be an unforgettable high school basketball season.

Help me out

If you have any questions, comments, or old photos you would like to share please contact me at apuca@marshalltribune.com and I will be happy to share with everyone else.

I want to thank Scotty Brock and George “Pap” Warren for their generosity in teaching me a lot about photography and sharing their photos over that first season and up to this day.

Bill Beasley in Chapel Hill has done the same, as has Danny Parker and Jimmy Jones from the Shelbyville Times Gazette, and a special thank you to Jim Bryan for his expertise and teaching that was essential.

I want to thank all the fans, parents, athletes, coaches, school administrators, and work colleagues for helping me live this wonderful dream.