The Tullahoma Wildcats held off a feisty Lenoir City Panthers squad 49-44 Monday night at Tullahoma High School to punch their ticket to the state basketball tournament for the first time since 1978.
“The kids played hard and together on a night where we struggled to make easy shots,” said Tullahoma Head Jason Welch. “But in the end we made the plays to win the game and go 1-0 for the Day.”
I’ve felt like we’ve worked our tails off from summer to now,” Xavier Farrell said postgame. “I mean just putting in all the work we have. Going through all the injuries we had and people coming in, the bench has been great this year. I mean, it's been amazing this year. I couldn't have asked for a better senior season.”
For the first time since the district tournament Tullahoma had to battle early adversity as Lenoir City hit their first three shots from beyond the arc and jumped out to a 9-0 lead with 5:05 to go in the first quarter. Out of a Tullahoma timeout the Wildcats responded with a 10-0 run to close the quarter and take the lead 10-9.
“I think for us being able to grow up from being so young our last two seasons to now we’re the big dogs, being able to control everything stuff like that doesn't really affect us being able to get back into the game because we’ve been there time and time again,” said Farrell.
Trading the lead back and forth again early in the second Tullahoma again closed the quarter strong to lead by 5 25-20 at the break. The Cats led by as much as 11 early in the third but Lenoir City battled back and played the third quarter to a 15-15 stalemate again putting Tullahoma up 5 heading into the fourth.
The Panthers opened the final period on a 7-0 run to tie the game at 42 with 4:06 to play. Then a minute later Alex Bobo drained a three from the corner that gave the Cats the lead for good. Able to work the clock and the foul count, the Wildcats hit four free throws late to secure their spot at The Glass House.
Farrell led Tullahoma with a game high 27 points. That allowed him to surpass Marlin Alsup for the Tullahoma single season scoring record and added to his career scoring record which sits at 1,498 and counting.
The Wildcats will face Jackson South Side in the Class 3-A Quarterfinals at 12:45 on March 20th at the Murphy Center on the campus of MTSU in Murfreesboro. 93.9 The Duck will be there to bring you all of the action.
Fans can visit tssaasports.com/basketball for more information on the 2025 Bluecross State Basketball Championships.
Fans can also visit facebook.com/939theduck to view photos from Tullahoma’s State Sectional victory.
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