MURFREESBORO
- On day two of the girls state tournament on the campus of Middle Tennessee State
University, Class AA and AAA No. 1’s Gibson
County and Memphis Central, respectively, showed why they have been regarded as the top dogs all season as both had impressive showings and advanced to the semifinals.
South Greene 70, Hume Fogg
52
Costly turnovers for Hume Fogg and
deadly shooting by South Greene were the difference in an 18-point game.
Senior shooting guard Megan Casteel and junior point guard Rechelle Dye were
the offensive catalysts for South Greene in the first half.
They
combined for 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting as the Rebels went on to defeat
Hume Fogg 70-52 to advance to the Class AA semifinals.
Hume Fogg (25-6) hadn’t made the state
tournament since winning it in 1927 while South Greene was making its 25th
state tournament appearance. The experience showed.
The Rebels (30-5) jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead before Hume Fogg responded
with its first basket of the game.
Casteel and Dye hit four 3-pointers
in the first half to extend the South Greene lead when Hume Fogg tried to make
a run.
The South Greene defense was also
trouble for Hume Fogg, forcing 22 for the game including 15 in the first
half.
Casteel (18) and Dye (14) led five South
Greene players in double figures along with fellow starters Ansley Ricker (11)
and Shelby Hicks (10).
Super sub Brandi Crum came off the bench
to contribute 10 points for the Rebels. Senior guard Maria Bagwell led
Hume Fogg with 20 points.
The Rebels face top-ranked
and unbeaten Gibson County Friday at 2:30 in the state semifinals.
Gibson County 69, Bolivar 43
Gibson County didn’t waste any time
showing why it has been ranked No. 1 all season.
The Pioneers (33-0) raced out to a
19-7 early thanks to the hot shooting hand of junior guard Heather Butler. She scored 11 of her game-high 27 points
during the run on the way to an easy 69-43 win over Bolivar.
They will now face South Greene (30-5)
on Friday in the Class AA state semifinals.
Bolivar cut the Gibson County lead to
9-7 before the Pioneers went on a 14-0 run to take a 23-7 lead, one they
wouldn’t relinquish.
Gibson County also got 22 points from
junior post Aubrey Reedy and a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds from
junior Heather Griffin.
Bolivar (25-7) simply didn’t have an
answer for Butler, especially in the first half as she scored 20 points.
The Gibson County press forced
Bolivar into 31 turnovers which led to 33 points for the Pioneers. Bolivar out-rebounded Gibson County
38-30.
Hillsboro 65, Knoxville
Powell 45
Hillsboro junior forward Lakeisha Crouch
decided to put her team on her back in the state quarterfinal game against
Knoxville Powell.
Crouch had a monster double-double game
of 29 points and 22 rebounds to help Hillsboro erase a 26-24 halftime deficit
and win 65-45 in the Class AAA state quarterfinals.
Crouch had 11 points and 12 rebounds at
halftime but the No. 4 Burros still trailed.
Powell led 32-31 before Crouch took the
game over in the third quarter as she scored 10 points in a Hillsboro 13-0
scoring run to take a 44-32 lead.
Powell cut the Hillsboro lead to
44-35 but Hillsboro scored 19 consecutive points to stretch the lead to 63-35.
Senior guard Vacie Perry scored
nine of her 15 points during the run and sophomore post Isabelle Harrison added
five points as well.
Harrison added 14 points and grabbed 13
rebounds to join Crouch and Perry in double figures. Brittany Allen led
the way for Powell with 25 points.
Hillsboro will face Memphis Overton
in the semifinals Friday afternoon.
Memphis Overton 43, Blackman
40
Survive and Advance.
The phrase is used a lot during the state tournament and Overton took it the extreme against Blackman in
the Class AAA state quarterfinals.
Blackman (19-12) led Overton until Wolverine sophomore
forward Karisma Tyson hit two free throws to give her team its first lead at
39-38 with just 1:32 left in regulation.
Blackman’s Shelby Campbell hit two
free throws with a 1:19 left to give the Blaze the lead back at 40-39.
Tyson gave the Wolverines the lead
back as she hit a layup with 1:06 left in the game, after a turnover by
Blackman, Overton’s Cornelia Fondren converted one of two free throws to up the
lead to two at 42-40.
Campbell then missed a 3-pointer
from the top of the key with seven seconds left in the game and Lakeria Crowder hit a free throw with a second
left for the final tally.
Both
teams were making their first state tournament appearance
Memphis Central 51,
Tennessee High 39
Memphis Central looked every bit of the No. 1 Class AAA team against Tennessee High Thursday
afternoon in quarterfinal action.
The Warriors (34-1), ranked No. 21
nationally by ESPN Rise, jumped out to a quick 13-2 lead as they easily disposed
of Tennessee High 51-39.
They will play McGavock Friday night
in the state semifinals.
Memphis Central, which hasn’t lost to a
Tennessee school all season, quickly jumped to a 13-4 lead at the end of the
first quarter.
The Warrior defense held Tennessee
High to 13. 6 percent shooting from the field in the first half on 3-of-22 shooting and
held a comfortable lead at the break, 29-8.
Southeast Louisiana signee Erica Burgess
led the Warriors with eight points, while Middle Tennessee State signee
Jamila Ajanaku and freshman Danielle Ballard both had six apiece at the break.
Ballard led three in double figures with
15 points, Burgess and another freshman, Aaliyah Whiteside, each had 10 points
for the Warriors.
Tennessee High, making its first state tournament appearance in 17 years, didn’t quit despite the
large deficit, outscoring Central 17-7 in the fourth quarter. Junior guard Kimberly Wood led the way for THS with 17 points.
McGavock 50, Cookeville 35
After being tied at 15 at halftime,
McGavock outscored Cookeville 35-20 in the second half to advance to
Friday's semifinal round against No. 1 Memphis Central.
The No. 6-ranked Raiders scored the
first five points of the second half to take a 20-15.
Cookeville cut the deficit to five at
32-27, but McGavock quickly pushed the lead to 10 points at the end of the
third quarter.
The Cavaliers cut the lead to seven
at 42-35 but McGavock put the game away by scoring eight unanswered to finish
the game.
Arieyelle O’Neal led McGavock with 16
points while Tanesha Stenson had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Helton led Cookeville with 13 points and
rebounds on 6-of-20 shooting, while Tationia Johnson added 12.
Questions?
Comments? Contact Donovan at dstew4vu@yahoo.com.
