Tigers play at Upperman Tuesday -
WATERTOWN - No. 4-seeded Watertown High came out of the blocks strong and held on the rest of the way in Monday's 59-54 home win over No. 5 Cannon County in the quarterfinals of the Region 8AA basketball tournament.
The Purple Tigers opened up a 15-8 first quarter lead and took 29-24 advantage into intermission.
The teams swapped baskets for much of the second half.
Three Watertown players scored in double figures, led by senior post man Quanterrius Hughes-Malone with 21.
Gavin Claybourne nailed 4-of-5 from beyond the arc on the way to 16 points and Eli Scarlett added 11 on the strength of three 3-pointers.
Cannon County's Gus Davenport was spectacular in the loss, drilling three 3-pointers on the way to a game-high 27.
A.J. Armstrong hit three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 16.
Watertown went 7-of-13 at the free throw (54 percent), 8-of-19 on 3-pointers (42 percent) and 14-of-28 from the field (50 percent).
With the victory, Coach Matt Bradshaw's club improved to 16-7 headed into a Tuesday semifinal game at No. 1 seed Upperman High (20-4).
Upperman, idle since an 80-39 victory over Macon County back on Feb. 11, has won four in a row and lost just one game in 2021.
The semifinal spot assures the Purple Tigers of a return trip to the Region 4AA tournament next week.
WATERTOWN (59): Q. Hughes-Malone 21, Eli Scarlett 11, Gavin Claybourne 16, Trent Spradlin 3, Brayden Cousino 8.
CANNON CO. (54): Gus Davenport 27, Honathan Fann 2, A.J. Armstrong 16, Lavell Rogers 7, Ethan Powell 2.
Halftime: 29-24 WHS.
Cannon County 13-16 overall.
(girls) Livingston Academy 64, Watertown 40
LIVINGSTON - Watertown High's basketball season came to a sudden halt following Monday's 64-40 loss at No. 4 seed Livingston Academy in the quarterfinals of District 8AA tournament.
The Lady Tigers entered tournament play as the No. 5 seed, knocking off Cannon County 45-42 in Sunday's "play-in" game.
Livingston Academy took a quick 22-5 first quarter lead and never looked back -- moving on to the semifinals against No. 1 seed Upperman High with a record of 20-7.
Brittni Allison connected on a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points for the Lady Tigers while Emma Patterson also scored 11.
Livingston Academy placed three in double figures -- Aleah Melton with 16, Hailey Cronk with 15 and Keaton Webb with 10.
