LORETTO, Tenn. – The Community Vikings (14-17, 2-6) saw their 2024-25 campaign come to an early close on the road against the favorites to win it all in Class 2A, the Loretto Mustangs (29-0, 8-0), 65-32, on Saturday night in the Region 5-AA Quarterfinal. 

Mason Tidwell led all scorers with 17 points, Summertown transfer Grayson Burleson chipped in with 12 points, and the Mustangs suffocating defense held the Vikings to just nine points in the first half en route to the 33-point home win.

Moe Berman and Josh Powers led Community with seven points on the night. Landon Lovvorn was held to just five points all game, all coming in the first half. The Vikings connected on four three-pointers, but the Mustangs outmatched them with seven makes from downtown of their own. 

To start, Loretto jumped out to an early 15-3 lead at the end of the opening period of play. Lovvorn scored the only field goal of the first quarter for the Vikes while missing a pair of free throws while Charlie Haskins, coming off a 20+ point-performance in the District 9-AA Consolation game against Cascade, split a pair of free throws and finished with five points on the night. 

Meanwhile, Loretto connected on a pair of threes while Tidwell dropped in a trio of two-point field goals. In the second quarter, the Mustangs continued their scoring output, knocking home three three-pointers and seeing five different players score in the period. Tidwell and Burleson scored five points apiece to lead the way as the hosts took a 32-9 lead into the halftime locker room. Lovvorn connected on a three-pointer for Community, but the Vikes could not consistently penetrate the stellar defense of the unbeaten Mustangs.

Coming out for the second half, both teams began to increase the tempo as Community became more and more desperate. However, the Mustangs outscored the Vikes, 23-15, in the third quarter to take a commanding 55-24 lead going into the final frame. Landon Berman scored four points in the period in his final game for Community, Haskins nailed a three, and Josh Powers put in four points of his own to lead the visitors. Burleson scored seven of his 12 points in the third quarter to offset the Vikings scoring.

In the fourth quarter, the result was merely a formality, but Loretto still outscored Community, 10-8, to put the finishing touches on an impressive 65-32 win to open the region tournament play. 

Loretto improves to 29-0 (8-0) and advances to the Region 5-AA Semifinals and will take on Grundy County at Cascade on Tuesday night with tip-off slated for roughly 7:45 p.m.

Community’s season ends at 14-17.