By Maurice Patton
SUMMERTOWN — A back-and-forth Top 10 affair seesawed one final time Tuesday night, as host Summertown scored the final 11 points of the third quarter and rode that wave to a 58-47 win over visiting Loretto in District 12-A play.
“We just made some shots,” Eagles coach Wes Long said. “We’d gotten some of those same looks in the first half. We just made a few shots and got some stops.”
Minus Xavier Young and Tabias Sirmones, each of whom got into foul trouble in the first half, No. 8 Summertown (13-4, 4-0) took a 36-35 lead on a Skylar Trousdale 3-pointer with 2:50 remaining in the third period.
Gavin Burleson added a 3 at the 2:16 mark, followed by a Grant Burleson trey a minute later, and – after a Loretto turnover – Zane Akins scored in transition with 14 seconds left to make it a 44-35 game heading into the final frame.
“I think they wanted it a little bit more,” Mustangs coach Greg Tipps said. “They did a really good job. They deserved to win.
“Foul trouble wasn’t our friend, but we didn’t play well.”
Sirmones helped third-ranked Loretto (9-3, 3-1) to a 10-8 lead by the end of the opening quarter. The hosts answered and led 25-22 at halftime, but found themselves trailing again prior to the decisive flurry.
“Loretto’s a great team,” Long said. “They’re physical, they’re tough. They’ve earned everything they’ve gotten. It’s been really tough the last few years to compete with them. It’s going to be a dogfight every time we play.”
Shaler Hankins and Brendan Tipps scored 13 points each to lead Loretto. Grant Burleson finished with a game-high 16 points for Summertown.
“It’s a great win, but when it’s all said and done, we’ve still got to play them again, we’ve still got Perry County,” Long said. “We can’t feel too good about it for too long. We’ve got to go back to work the next day.”
Summertown 58, Loretto 47
L 10 12 13 12 – 47
S 8 17 19 14 – 58
Loretto (47) – Omar Joyner 3, Clint Seymore 3, Shaler Hankins 13, Xavier Young 8, Brendan Tipps 13, Tabias Sirmones 7
Summertown (58) – Skyler Trousdale 14, Zane Akins 2, Jake Smith 2, Grayson Burleson 6, Gavin Burleson 13, Grant Burleson 16, Kaden Trotter 5
3-pointers – Loretto 2 (Seymore, Tipps), Summertown 6 (Trousdale 3, Gt. Burleson 3)
Photos by Vanessa Beach / SM-Tn Sports