Cookeville girls deny Green Hill 9-4A repeat

Feb. 23—COOKEVILLE — A year after being surprised by Green Hill on the Lady Hawks' court, Cookeville's girls served early notice Monday night there would be no repeat in the District 9-4A championship game.

The Lady Cavaliers broke open a close game in the second quarter and widened the margin from there to take the title 61-34.

Cookeville scored the first four points before Green Hill rallied. A driving layup by Aubrey Blankenship put the Lady Hawks ahead for the first time 9-8. A 3-pointer from near the top of the key by Savannah Kirby put GHHS up 12-10 with three minutes to play.

But tournament Most Valuable Player Isabel Garcia scored on a putback to tie the game and a driving layup by Jordan Gillies put Cookeville ahead.

The Lady Cavs went up by four before Blankenship scored to bring Green Hill to within 14-12 at the first-quarter buzzer.

Cookeville controlled the second quarter 15-6 to go up 31-20 by halftime as Cassie Gallagher scored at the buzzer. The Lady Cavs dominated the third 14-3 to lead 45-23 as they climbed to 26-4 for the season.

"They're good," Green Hill coach Joseph Simmons said of the Lady Cavs. "We played them closer than anyone else in the league the two previous games. You got to tip your hat to them.

"We talked about turnovers and offensive rebounds coming into this game and I think those were two key factors, especially in the first half. They gave them the 11-point game. I thought the game got a little bit too fast for us, especially losing (Julia) Varpness (to a broken right arm in Saturday's semifinal vs. Lebanon). That shortens our depth one person. We got to have other people step up... It's great that Aubrey scored 25, but we got to have contributions from other people, too."

Green Hill fell to 14-15 but will host Hendersonville in a first-round Region 5-4A game at 7 p.m. Friday. The winner will advance to next Monday's semifinal as the remaining teams hook up at Mt. Juliet.

Garcia led the Lady Cavs with 14 points while Gillies and Gallagher each tossed in 12.

Blankenship totaled almost all of Green Hill's points, 26 to be exact, including a pair of 3s. Kirby had her 3, Sheridan Cruz and Chezney Whipker two each and Sullie Gerik a free throw. Gerik and Blankenship were named to the all-tournament team.

Cookeville will host Station Camp on Friday with the winner catching the Lebanon-Beech winner at 6 p.m. next Monday at Mt. Juliet. The Hendersonville-Green Hill winner will face either Wilson Central or Beech at 7:30 p.m. Monday at MJHS.

By winning last Saturday, Green Hill ensured Cookeville can't eliminate the Lady Hawks because they will be in opposite brackets in the region and, should they get there, the state.

"We did what we wanted to do on Saturday by winning that game," Simmons said. "It puts us opposite of Cookeville, obviously. But it's going to be a tough road to survive and advance from this point forward. But by winning Saturday we gave ourself a chance to play at home, which is all we ask for. I still believe in our girls. I still think we have a chance to make a run. All of our goals are still ahead of us. We can't let this one game define us.

"Tip you hat to Cookeville, flush it and move on."

Devilettes turn back Central challenge for third place

COOKEVILLE — After a regular season full of struggle and frustration, Wilson Central enjoyed a productive District 9-4A tournament, even with a fourth-place finish.

The Lady Wildcats gave Lebanon all the Devilettes could handle for much of the first half before LHS pulled away in the second half of a 56-33 win in the third-place game Monday.

Lebanon led the entire way, but not by much until the second half. Central missed a layup trailing 11-10 which would have given the Lady Wildcats the lead in the second quarter. The Devilettes, who were up 11-8 at the first-quarter break, then began widening the lead until it reached 19-12 by halftime.

"Anytime you play Lebanon that tight for a half it's always a good think," Lady Wildcats coach Jason Knowles said. "A lot of turnovers in the third really hurt us."

It was 41-27 going into the fourth as Lebanon improved to 20-9 and booked a Region 5-4A first-round trip to Gallatin's Jerry Vradenburg Gym at 7 p.m. Friday.

Big girl Macey Baker, who missed several weeks in January in concussion protocol, scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the third quarter as her minutes picked up after a first-quarter hamstring injury to Trinity Franzen, one which Coach Cory Barrett said he doesn't believe is serious. Baker's performance helped put her on the all-tournament team.

The rest of Lebanon's roster came into this tournament with little, if any, postseason experience. Tiara Spencer and Tiffany Harrigan each scored seven points while TK Hastings, Keeli Davis and Shaunna Rowe each racked up six, Rolandia Dowell four and Franzen and Lydia Deffendall two apiece.

"We got such a young group and they've been introduced over the last few games to tournament basketball," Barrett said. "I was proud of them for bouncing back tonight. We played hard. We got better. The things we worked on today, we implemented those tonight. We do that, we've got enough talent to give us a chance in any game we play."

Alli McCullough led the Lady Wildcats with nine points, including a pair of third-quarter 3-pointers. Cloe Smith scored seven while Akeley Thompson and Jamey Ricketts each finished with five, Kendyle Pickett four and Kristen Smith, who made the all-tournament team, a 3.

"They play hard," Barrett said of the Lady Wildcats. "Jason's kids have played hard all year and they've gotten better. I think they're playing their best basketball right now. Their kids are playing with an edge, playing with confidence and they got a lot of seniors. They're not ready for it to be over. I expect whoever they play Friday night to have a war with them."

"Anytime you're picked to finish last it puts a target on everyone else and takes the pressure off of you," Knowles said. "The girls battled all year long and were able to overcome a lot. We continue to get better game by game and hopefully we'll be able to make some noise in the region."

Central sank four 3s in the third quarter as Knowles had big girl Lillian Crutchfield bring the ball up the floor.

"We wanted to space them out and see how they matched up when she did that and really eliminate their size in the zone to give us more gaps to drive," Knowles said. "That was what freed us up to get the 3-point shots in the third and played a little mismatch.

"On the other end, you trade a 3 for a 2, so they hurt us on that."

While Lebanon is at Gallatin, the Lady Wildcats will carry a 4-22 record to District 10 champion Beech with the winner facing either Green Hill or Hendersonville at 7:30 p.m. next Tuesday at Mt. Juliet.

The Lebanon-Gallatin winner will take on the Station Camp-Cookeville winner at 6 p.m. Tuesday, also at Mt. Juliet.

Watertown falls to Smith, finishes fourth in 6-2A

CARTHAGE — Smith County's girls took the lead in the third quarter and went on to finish third in the District 6-2A tournament with a 61-50 win over Watertown on Monday night.

The Lady Owls led 16-13 at the first-quarter break before Watertown went in front 32-31 by halftime. But Smith County controlled the third 12-5 to go in front 43-37 going into the fourth as the Lady Purple Tigers fell to 12-15.

Addie Hawkins poured in 27 points for Smith County, hitting 14 of 16 free throws. She was 10-of-11 from the line in the fourth quarter as the Lady Owls kept Watertown at bay. Chloe Collins tossed in 12 points and Merissa Spivey 10 as each hit three 3-pointers.

Kierah Maklary connected on two triples to lead the Lady Tigers with 14 points while Presley Clark's 11 included three triples. Madison King canned two treys on her way to eight while Gwen Franklin scored seven, Rachel Cromer five, Claire Manos a 3 and Macie Brejle two.

Watertown will journey to District 5-4A champion York Institute to open the Region 3-2A tournament 7 p.m. Friday with the winner advancing to the semifinals as the tourney shifts to Monterey next Monday.