‘Dogs dominate 2nd half

Columbia Academy’s road to a second straight state championship didn’t get off to a smooth start Wednesday night, but the Bulldogs’ second-half surge cleared the way to a convincing 92-66 win over visiting Grace Christian in the quarterfinals of the Division II-A District 3 tournament.

The victory sends second-seeded CA (20-6) into a semifinal clash Friday at 8:30 p.m. with Christ Presbyterian Academy, a 96-61 quarterfinal winner over Middle Tennessee Christian, and assures the ‘Dogs of a Middle Region tourney berth — as well as their eighth straight 20-win season and ninth in the last 10 years.

“That’s been our goal all along. You want to get into the region (tournament) and see what happens,” veteran CA coach Marty DeJarnette said. “I’m excited for Friday. It should be a good atmosphere here, a lot of good teams, good players, good coaches, a lot of good basketball.”

Friday’s district semifinals and Saturday’s consolation and championship games on both the boys and girls side will be played at Anderson Fieldhouse, beginning at 4 p.m. each day.

For a significant period of time, following the CA girls’ quarterfinal loss Tuesday at Providence Christian, it was debatable whether there would be a host team in action Friday. Grace Christian (6-21), which lost to the host Bulldogs 69-66 on Feb. 4 when a 3-pointer in the waning moments wouldn’t go down, fed off that momentum Wednesday — cutting an eight-point deficit to two on a deep Mason McKnatt 3 just before the halftime buzzer.

“We got lucky right there before the half,” Grace coach Len McKnatt said. “That usually happens to us, not for us.

“They were up two, and they came out and picked up the intensity, and we were a little hesitant. Against a team like this, that’s used to winning — we couldn’t stop their run.”

The younger McKnatt scored on a runner at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter to make it a 39-38 game. Grace Christian’s next field goal, a Jordan Carter 3 with 7:24 remaining, cut the Lions’ deficit to 66-45.

In the interim, CA went on a smothering 27-4 run sparked by Drew Butt and Tanner Ham, who combined for 17 points during the game-turning spurt.

“We had to focus more on contesting the 3-point line,” said Ham, one of the ‘Dogs’ four double-digit scorers with 18 points. “We got some turnovers and got some easy baskets, some rhythm shots.

“We wanted them to not think they had a chance again.”

Any chance Grace Christian may have had went by the boards with that Bulldog run.

“We knew they’d come in and bring a lot of emotion after that last game was so close,” DeJarnette said. “As the game got going, the pace picked up and I felt that wore them down in the second half. Holding Mason to two field goals in the second half, I thought that was a key to the game opening up.”

McKnatt, who scored 40 points in the prior meeting, finished with a game-high 27 Tuesday.

Butt finished with 21 to lead Columbia Academy, with Gary Smith Jr. adding 16 and Riley Weller 15.

“We didn’t show enough emotion (in the first half),” Smith said. “We came out in the second half and went at it. We weren’t going to lose to them.”

Top seed ousts Eagles: Zion Christian, which defeated Providence Christian 70-63 in a Monday play-in game behind 39 points and 10 rebounds from senior Briggs Rutter, fell 92-41 Wednesday at Webb. Rutter finished with 16 points in the defeat, ending his career with 1,964 points, as Zion completed a 6-18 campaign.

The top-seeded Feet (25-2), led by J.J. Platt and Amos Howard with 24 and 18 points, will face Battle Ground Academy — a 62-52 quarterfinal winner over Franklin Road Academy — in Friday’s 5:30 p.m. semifinal.

Columbia Acad. boys 92, Grace Chr. 66

G 13 20 9 24 — 66

C 17 18 28 29 — 92

Grace Chr. (66) — Dean Bechman 14, Will Beasley 6, Jordan Carter 14, Jackson Sleeper 2, Grant Solomon 3, Mason McKnatt 27

Columbia Acad. (92) — Tanner Ham 18, Drew Butt 21, Riley Weller 15, Chase Duncan 7, Will Jackson 9, Gary Smith Jr. 16, Paxton Powell 6

3-pointers — Grace Chr. 8 (Bechman 3, Carter 2, Solomon, McKnatt 2), Columbia Acad. 8 (Ham, Butt, Weller 3, Duncan, Jackson, Smith)

Webb (Bell Buckle) boys 92, Zion Chr. 41

Z 8 15 7 11 — 41

W 21 28 23 20 — 92

Zion Chr. (41) — Briggs Rutter 16, Sam Boyd 9, Connor Matheny 6, Jackson Hughes 5, Dillan Runions 5

Webb (92) — J.J. Platt 24, Amos Howard 18, Jordan Jenkins 14, Alex Garrett 10, Weston Coop 8, Khi Harris 8, Shawn McKenzie 6, Sugri Amelababa 3, Sam Hastings 1

3-pointers — Zion Chr. 5 (Rutter 3, Boyd, Runions), Webb 8 (Platt, Howard 4, Coop 2, Amelababa)