For the second consecutive year, the District 10AA boys’ teams swept the four Region 5AA quarterfinals. By virtue of the top seeded Martin Luther King Academy Royals, the second seeded Pearl-Cohn High School Firebirds and lower seeds the East Nashville Magnet Eagle and the Maplewood High School Panthers all winning against their District 9AA opponents, the Region 5AA semi-finals have been moved from Greenbrier High School to Pearl-Cohn High School on Wednesday.
At 6pm, the district regular season champion East Nashville will take on district tournament champion MLK in a rematch on the district semi-final which MLK came from a double-digit deficit to win 56-51.
The Eagles are coming off an impressive 91-71 road victory over White House High School. After being 25-21 at the end of the first quarter, White House went on a 6=0 run to go up 31-21 at the 7:05 mark of the second quarter. East then went on a 26-4 run in the second and part of the third quarters to take a commanding lead and never looked back.
East Nashville vs. White House
East Nashville (91)
Taras Carter 7-13 5-9 22, Caleb Grimes 5-9 0-1 11, Tre Shaw 2-4 0-0 4, Isaiah Jones 4-4 0-0 9, Josh Cole 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Dowlen 5-9 1-2 11, Corey Stewart 4-5 2-2 10, Willie Wilson 7-12 6-7 24. Totals 34-56 14-21 91
White House (71)
Jacob McDonald 1-4 2-2 5, Noah Johnston 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Pond 1-1 0-0 3, Octavian Arnold 9-18 1-2 22, Jared Ward 5-12 8-8 21, Andrew Nixon 2-4 2-3 7, Ethan Droz 0-0 0-0 0, Nathan Bowman 0-0 0-0 0, James Willbanks 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Webster 1-2 0-0 3, Durstin Adams 4-9 2-2 10, Zak Laamal 0-2 0-0 0, Quad Lucas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-52 15-17 71
SCORE BY PERIODS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th TOTAL
East Nashville 21 20 27 23 91
White House 25 10 13 23 71
FG%: East Nashville .607, White House .442. 3-pt FG: East Nashville 9-20 (Carter 3-8, Grimes 1-4, Jones 1-1, Wilson 4-7), White House 10-24 (McDonald 1-2, Pond 1-1, Arnold 3-10, Ward 3-6, Nixon 1-3, Webster 1-2). Rebounds: East Nashville 35 (Dowlen 11), White House 26 (Arnold 9). Fouls East Nashville 12, White House 21. Fouled out: none. Assists: East Nashville 21 (Carter 7, Wilson 7), White House 10 (McDonald 4). Steals: East Nashville 12 (Wilson 5), White House 5 (Arnold 2, Ward 2). Blocked shots: East Nashville 3 (Carter 1, Jones 1, Dowlen 1), White House 1 (Adams 1). Turnovers: East Nashville 7, White House 14.
MLK, led by district tournament most valuable player Michael McClarty, defeated a valiant Harpeth High School team 50-38 to set up the rematch. This is the Royals second consecutive berth to the regional semis. Last year they fell to Whites Creek High School in overtime. East also bowed out at this juncture, falling to Stratford High School.
This matchup will come down to guard play. East seniors Caleb Grimes (pictured, left) and Taras Carter (pictured, right) and freshman Willie Wilson will try to match shots with McClarty and Tre Vaughn.
The Firebirds will have home court advantage when they take on the Panthers. In the district semis, Pearl-Cohn won 64-33 behind a strong game from district player of the year Tyrone Marshall. Maplewood is led by Bo Bo Hodges who started as a sophomore on the 2016-17 team that won the Class AA state championship game.
The winners of both games will advance to the regional final game and will automatically have a berth to the sub-state.
