SVCC Falls in USA National Prep Title Game
The Southside Virginia Community College men’s basketball team was hoping to go back-to-back in the USA National Collegiate Prep Championships in North Myrtle Beach, SC over the weekend but the Panthers could not stop a huge second half run by Tennessee Prep who pulled away for an 87-57 victory.
“The guys played well but we just ran out of gas,” said SVCC first-year head coach Vincent Brown.
It was the second straight year that SVCC (10-5) met Tennessee Prep in the title game as the Panthers claimed a 65-52 victory in 2022.
SVCC jumped out to a 5-0 lead in this year’s title game on a free-throw by Nile Atwater at the 16:01 mark of the first half on Saturday evening. Tennessee Prep responded with a 15-2 run to open up a 15-7 lead.
A bucket by Tae Holmes and a runner by Atwater cut the TP lead to 23-14 at the 9:50 mark.
A 4-point play by Atwater cut the lead to 23-20 at the 8:45 mark.
TP tried to force SVCC out of their zone defense but the Panther created two turnovers and a trey by Joshua Jiggetts at the 2:49 mark cut the Tennessee Prep lead to 34-33.
A 3-point play by Holmes at the 1:09 mark gave SVCC a 40-38 lead and the local team got buckets from Lanthony Joyner and Jermonta James to take a 46-42 lead to the halftime break.
The Panthers got off to a good start in the second half as two straight buckets by Atwater ran the SVCC lead to 50-42.
Tennessee Prep fought back by hitting three treys to take a 51-50 lead at the 13:32 mark of the second half.
After Atwater hit one of two from the charity stripe at the 11:48 mark, Tennessee Prep went on a 19-0 run to open up a 71-54 lead on a 3-point play by Jerry Taylor at the 7:54 mark of the second half and cruised down the stretch to the victory.
Taylor led Tennessee Prep with 26 points in the title game and was named the tournament MVP while Elijah Hollins added 17 of his 19 points in the second half.
Atwater led SVCC with 22 points while Holmes finished with 18.
SVCC……..46 11 - 57
TP…………42 45 – 87
SVCC – Atwater 22, Holmes 18, James 8, Gant 2, Joyner 2, Jiggetts 3.
Tennessee Prep – Pittman 5, Anderson 11, Lyn 4, Coco 5, Hollins 19, Bair 12, Sayles 5, Taylor 26.
SVCC, 81-69
SVCC punched its ticket to the title game by dispatching DEH Academy, Tennessee 81-69 in a semifinal contest on Friday afternoon.
The local team jumped out to a 45-37 lead in the first half behind 12 points from Holmes and 11 from Joshua Jiggetts.
