Tennessee: Hillsboro Wins Class AAA Title at Buzzer

After Memphis Central took a 61-60 lead on an Erica Burgess free throw, Pace grabbed the rebound on her second throw miss and the Burros called timeout with 5.8 seconds left.

Pace exchanged passes with a teammate then drove the lane and pulled up just inside the free throw line, launching a desperation shot at the buzzer.

The ball hit the left side of the rim, then the right side and it seemed to hang up in the air before going through the net to give Hillsboro a 62-61 victory and its first girls state championship.

Pace had a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds en route to tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

“I had to hurry and get a shot off,” Pace said. “When I took it I didn’t really know if it was good or not.”

The Burros (34-1) becomes the first Metro Nashville team since Pearl High School to win the Class AAA state title in 1980.

Central was looking for its first state title since winning the first Tennessee Secondary Schools Association tournament back in 1922. With 15 seconds remaining, the Warriors (35-2) looked primed to do just that.

Central cut into a 60-55 deficit and tied the game at 60 when Middle Tennessee State signee Mimi Ajanaku stole a pass and fed Burgess, a Southeast Louisiana signee, for a layup.

Burgess scored 11 while Ajanuku and Arkansas State signee Jasmine Taylor both added 10 for Central.

Lakeisha Crouch had 17 points and sophomore Isabelle Harrison added 16 for the state champions.

Hillsboro set a team tournament record with 136 rebounds during its three games. The previous record was held by Coffee County, which grabbed 129 in 1993.

All-Tournament Team: Isabelle Harrison, Hillsboro; Jessica Pace (MVP), Hillsboro; Vacie Perry, Hillsboro; Lakeisha Crouch, Hillsboro; Jamila Ajanaku, Memphis Central; Aaliyah Whiteside, Memphis Central; Jasmine Taylor, Memphis Central; Danielle Ballard, Memphis Central; Jasmine Robinson, Memphis Overton; Tanesha Stenson, McGavock.

Miss Basketball: Wilson Central’s Jasmine Hassell, a University of Georgia signee who averaged 20 points and seven rebounds per game, took home Miss Basketball for the second year. Other finalists were fellow Georgia signee Jasmine James and Morristown West’s Taylor Hall.

Clarkrange 57, Madison Academic 31

The hurt that the Clarkrange basketball team felt after finishing Class A runner-up last season to district rival Jackson County last season lasted 365 days.

Losing 31-30 in last year’s title game was motivation that four Clarkrange seniors used as a rallying cry for the 2009 season.

So on Saturday in the Class A state title game against newcomer Madison Academic, the Buffaloes used the hurt to push ahead and make new memories—this time with a happy ending.

Clarkrange (39-0) jumped out early and easily defeated Madison Academic 57-31 to capture the school’s eighth state championship.

The Buffaloes also became only the second team in Class A to finish the season undefeated, joining the 2000 Bradford team that went 36-0.

“This is totally gratifying,” Hall of Fame coach Lamar Rogers said. “I think the girls feel redeemed from last season and they used it to get better all season long.”

The 26-point win for the Lady Buffaloes was the average margin of victory for Clarkrange in the regular season while the average tournament margin of victory was 23 points.

“They decided to come here (Murfreesboro) and dominate and that’s what they did,” Rogers said. “You can say that but to actually come here and do it against some really good basketball teams is a testament to this group of girls.”

Clarkrange wasted little time in the title game scoring the first 13 points before Madison finally broke the run with six straight points.

Clarkrange closed out the second quarter by outscoring Madison Academic 9-2 to take a commanding 26-10 lead at the half.

The domination continued in the second half as Clarkrange outscored 31-21 as junior forward Molly Heady led the way with 16 points

Tournament Most Valuable Player Tasha Phillips had 15 points and fellow All-Tournament selection Kelli Reed chipped in with 12 points.

Madison Academic, in its first state title game in only its sixth year of existence, was led in scoring by Morgan Faulkner with 14.

All-Tournament Team: Hope Patterson, Madison Academic; Morgan Faulkner, Madison Academic; Mariah Ollis, Oliver Springs; Kelsey Hall, Oliver Springs; Mikki Oliver, Hampton; Chelsey Weddle, Hampton; Hannah Green, Clarkrange; Molly Heady, Clarkrange; Tasha Phillips (MVP), Clarkrange; Kelli Reed, Clarkrange.

Miss Basketball: Jackson County junior forward Laken Leonard averaged 21.5 points a game and eight rebounds to take home the honor over Oliver Springs Kayla Christopher and Andrea Hobson from McEwen.

Gibson County 54, Livingston Academy 34

Livingston Academy played the role of Cinderella in the first two rounds of the Class AA state basketball tournament, defeating undefeated No. 2 McMinn Central and No. 6 Westview on back-to-back days.

But Gibson County (34-0) knocked the slipper off Cinderella as the undefeated Pioneers got a game-high 20 points from tournament MVP Heather Griffin to turn back the Wildcats third consecutive upset bid.

The state title win is the first for Gibson County in any sport and it caps just the fourth undefeated season in Class AA history.

Livingston Academy (25-13) kept the game close through the first three quarters behind the scoring of the Sells sisters.

Sophomore McKenzie Sells hit a jumper in the lane to cut the Gibson County lead to 35-33, after the teams traded free throws, Gibson County junior guard Heather Butler hit a big 3-pointer to extend the lead to 40-34.

Butler suffered through a bad shooting night as she was only 3-of-19 from the field, including 1-of-10 in the first half.

Butler, who scored 61 points in the first two tournament games, had 12 points in the win and a place on the All-Tournament team.

All-Tournament Team: Heather Griffin (MVP), Gibson County; Heather Butler, Gibson County; Aubrey Reedy, Gibson County; Alissa Sells, Livingston Academy; MacKenzie Sells, Livingston Academy; Kendria Kilgore, Livingston Academy; Amber Rechis, Westview; Grace Swaim, Westview; Ainsley Ricker, South Greene; Mariah Pietrowski, Elizabethton.