Notre Dame’s basketball team proved Saturday that it’s better to lead late than early.
The Irish trailed Hixson for almost 30 minutes – and by as many as 12 points – before taking a 59-57 lead on Akil Sledge’s two free throws with 2:02 left and went on to knock off the Wildcats 64-61 in the eighth Hoops For Hope charity basketball event at Girls Preparatory School.
Notre Dame (2-4) also had to overcome a game-high 31-point effort by Hixson’s Braven Horton in the Irish’s final tune up for district play against Grundy County on Tuesday. Horton had 19 points in the first half.
“That’s my high for this year,” Horton said. “I scored 36 versus Howard last year. “I was feeling it and I was in the flow of the game. In the second half, we started playing down to (Notre Dame) and that wasn’t the game plan we wanted.”
It was a game the Wildcats should have won, Hixson coach Lawanza Crutcher said.
“I thought we had it packed away,” he said. “We controlled the game throughout until right at the end. We had issues: we didn’t put the ball in the right places; we didn’t finish plays we should have and we didn’t make free throws on top of that.”
After Sledge’s free throws, the Wildcats (2-2) got a tying basket by Jahvon Beard with 1:44 remaining.
Derwin Lewis scored on a tip-in and C.J. Greer made a layup to give Notre Dame a 63-59 advantage with 16.4 seconds on the clock.
Horton’s layup trimmed the Irish lead to 63-51 at the 10-second mark.
At the other end Tyrese Hatcher made a free throw, but missed the second and Hixson still had a chance, trailing by three points. But Beard missed a 3 from the left wing and the Irish escaped with the come-from-behind victory.
“This is the first time this group has really played together as a varsity squad,” Irish coach J.P. Nerbun said. “I thought they showed growth throughout the game, started focusing on the little things and that helped.
“Regardless of whether (Hixson’s last 3-point) that shot went in and they tied or we had lost, I felt great as the game went by. We’ve got district (7-2A) coming up Tuesday and we needed this group running together a little while. That was important.”
Crutcher took the loss in stride, but wants his team to learn the lesson of the day.
“I told the guys after the East Ridge game that it’s better to win ugly than lose pretty,” he said. “Tonight, we playing pretty for three-plus quarters and wound up losing ugly. We don't like this feeling right now, and we shouldn't. We need to learn that we have to fight from buzzer to buzzer.”
Hixson, which built a sizable lead and had to hold off East Ridge to win 58-53 on Friday, jumped out a 7-0 lead on the Irish and was up 15-6. The Wildcats went to halftime with a 35-29 advantage.
Horton scored 19 points against East Ridge, with 16 in the first half.
“It didn’t seem like Braven had (31) points tonight,” Crutcher said. “We were rolling and he was playing solid basketball. Braven is a competitor and works hard every day he’s on the court. He’s going to be the second player with a thousand points I’ve had at Hixson (Chandler Abbott was the first). He was about a hundred short and that was a big chunk today.”
In the third period, Hixson went on an 8-0 run – Horton scored six points – and pulled into a 43-31 lead with 4:28 left in the quarter. The Wildcats’ margin was 51-43 starting the fourth.
The Irish cut the deficit to 51-47, the Wildcats pushed the spread to 53-47 on Horton’s layup, but Notre Dame scored eight straight points to gain the upper hand at 59-57.
Greer, who led Notre Dame with 17 points, made four free throws and a layup in that game-changing streak that also included Sledge’s clutch free throws.
Then Hixson’s Beard missed two free throws, but Horton grabbed the rebound and fed Beard for the game-tying bucket with 1:44 left to play.
The Wildcats committed two turnovers and missed a shot, enabling the Irish to protect their narrow lead.
Kolby McGowan added 14. Sledge and Lewis each scored 10 points.
Jamvis Pounder scored 14 points, 12 in the first half, for Hixson.
“This is my best group at Hixson,” Crutcher said. “Two years ago I had a good group that included five seniors who were passionate about basketball and worked well together. They sold out and made a big run at the end. I think we’ll be a factor from the beginning in our district (6-2A) this year.”
In an earlier girls’ game between the same two teams, Notre Dame routed Hixson, 43-13.
Proceeds from Saturday’s games will go to the Mary Ellen Locher Foundation scholarship fund, which is directed at students who have had a parent diagnosed with breast cancer.
Linescore
Notre Dame 16 13 14 21 – 64
Hixson 21 14 16 10 – 61
Notre Dame (64) – Kolby McGowan 14, C.J. Greer 17, Akil Sledge 10, Cochran, Derwin Lewis 10, Corbitt 7, Berce 2, Suarez 4.
Hixson (61) – Alameda 6, Hatcher, Moorer, Jamvis Pounder 14, Braven Horton 31, Beard 7, Stegall, Warthan 3, Sanderfer, Lips.
3-Point Goals – Notre Dame 3 (McGowan 2, Corbitt 1), Hixson 4 (Alameda 2, Pounder 1, Warthan 1).
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)