Staff Report
MURFREESBORO — Community got just about as good of a start as it could have wanted on Thursday night at Central Magnet.
But as well as the Vikings started, Central Magnet was able to claw its way back into the game by working its way to the line and rallied for a 60-54 win over Community.
Landon Lovvorn was red-hot in the first quarter, totaling eight of the Vikings’ 23 points in the period.
Six Vikings scored in the opening quarter and by the end of the first eight minutes, Community built a 23-12 lead over the Tigers.
But Central Magnet was able to slow the game down in the second quarter by working its way to the free throw line.
Jake Maddox was a one-man wrecking crew for the Tigers and scored 10 of his game-high 19 points in the quarter.
As a team, Central Magnet shot 7-of-10 attempts at the charity stripe to cut Community’s lead to two points by halftime.
CMS continued to pour on the offense with a 20-point third quarter and held on to outscore the Vikings 13-10 in the fourth to complete the rally.
Fleming shot a team-high 18 points, while Austin Sticker and Lovvorn added 12 and 11 points, respectively.
While Central Magnet was able to make good on 14-of-18 free throw attempts, the Vikings managed just 3-of-6 tries from the line.
Community looks to snap a two-game skid on Friday night as the Vikings host Macon County at 7:30 p.m.
During their first meeting last week, Community beat Macon County 49-39.
Community 23 6 15 10 — 54
CMS 12 15 20 13 — 60
Community: Maki Fleming 18, Austin Stickler 12, Landon Lovvorn 11, Joshua Powers 9, Landon Berman 2, Jaxon Williams 2.
CMS: Jake Maddox 19, Owen Zubkus 13, Mason Brown 9, Garrett Florida 6, Carson Wood 5, Alijah Dean 3, Eli Fearns 3, John Hays, Stef Scarwell.
3-Point goals: Community (6): Fleming 3, Lovvorn 2, Powers; CMS (6): Zubkus 2, Wood, Fearns, Brown, Maddox.
Halftime score: Community 29, CMS 27.