Central shuts down Devilettes

GLADEVILLE — After staying within striking distance of Wilson Central early, Lebanon had more and more trouble scoring as the game progressed Tuesday night in a 69-26 Lady Wildcat triumph.
Central led 16-11 going into the second quarter before an 11-0 run to begin the period lifted the Lady Wildcats to a 27-11 bulge.
After leading 33-19 at halftime, the Lady Wildcats scored the first 18 points of the second half as the Devilettes didn't see one of their shots go through the hoop until the final minute of the period.
"We wanted to apply good ball pressure and try to cut down passing lanes and at halftime that was the emphasis," Central coach Bud Brandon said after his Lady Wildcats climbed to 5-0. "The girls responded well."
"We went in at halftime down 14 and didn't feel that bad because we hadn't scored," Lebanon coach Darian Brown said after his Devilettes dropped to 3-2. "We got some shots but we just couldn't finish.
"We felt like we were still in it and had a shot. But we came out in the third quarter and...got some looks at the basket. We played very tentative and just weren't aggressive with the ball all night long.
"And give them credit. They kept us pushed out all night long."
Forward Tierney Jenkins led the Lady Wildcats with 23 points and 10 rebounds while center Jasmine Hassell threw in 13 points and Jessyca Christopher came off the bench to fire in four three-pointers for 12.
"We got to have that," Brandon said. "Jessy put the ball in the hole. That's a good sign of things. Sometimes when you have one person hitting, it becomes contagious and that's what we need."
Lauren Farmer tossed in two triples on her way to eight points for Central while Sara Williams scored six, Katie Tiger three and Chelsea Burroughs and Lauren Wasson two each.
Jasmin Brooks tossed in two of Lebanon's three 3-pointers to led the Devilettes with 13 points. Ebony Marshall finished with five, Chastidy Herrod four and Crystal Howse and London Elie two each.
The Devilettes were without guards Samantha Dies and Kim Ha, both out with leg injuries, forcing Brown to alter his game plan.
"Not having Kim made us have to rearrange where we put everybody," said Brown, who saw both girls go down Saturday.
Central returns to action Thursday when the Lady Wildcats travel to Nashville to take on Stratford. Tipoff has been moved up to 5:30 p.m.
Lebanon opens District 7-AAA play at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Murfreesboro against Blackman.

Tigerettes can't climb out of first-quarter hole
WATERTOWN — Utilizing their trademark fullcourt press, Westmoreland jumped to a big first-quarter lead and held on the rest of the way to a 38-33 win Tuesday in the District 8-A opener for Watertown.
The Lady Eagles soared to a 14-1 first-period lead. The Tigerettes trimmed the margin to 20-12 by halftime and 30-23 through three periods as they fell to 2-2 for the season.
"We got some good looks that didn't fall," Watertown coach Jeff Luttrell said. "We had some bad decisions early but after that we had every opportunity to win the ballgame."
Junior guard Lindsay Jones scored 16 points for Westmoreland.
Center Miaushia Thompson threw in 13 points for Watertown while Sarah Reeder knocked down nine, Brittnee Sells six, Amanda Montgomery three and Sarah Page two.
Watertown will travel to Hendersonville on Friday for a 6 p.m. district duel at Merrol Hyde.

Lady Saints get much closer to Community this time
MT. JULIET — Showing a 28-point improvement from their first meeting of the year, Mt. Juliet Christian dropped a 46-39 decision to Community on Tuesday.
The teams met two weeks ago in a TSSAA Hall of Champions game in Unionville where Community won by 35 points.
The Viqueens led 5-4 following the first quarter, 18-13 at halftime and 30-27 through three periods as the Lady Saints slipped to 1-3.
Guard Jessica Thompson knocked down 19 points and Andriana Jones 12 for the Viqueens, who notched nine three-pointers in the earlier meeting but none this time.
Sarah Worden fired in five triples for Mt. Juliet Christian on her way to 23 points. Christine Humes and Anna Haley scored six each and Paige Hudson four.
The Lady Saints will open their District 8-A schedule Thursday when they host Trousdale County at 6 p.m.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.