Devilettes overcome slow start to defeat Ezell-Harding in OT

Lebanon's girls apparently aren't an early-afternoon team.
After falling behind by 11 points in the scheduled 1 p.m. game against Ezell-Harding, the Devilettes woke up and shot down the Lady Eagles from the free-throw line 66-62 in overtime Thursday in the Smyrna Tournament.
Lebanon fell behind 16-5 in the first quarter before battling back to tie the score 24-24 at halftime as Crystal Howse had eight of her 15 points, including 6-of-6 from the foul line, during the second period.
"For whatever reason, we didn't come out ready to play," Lebanon coach Darian Brown said. "Mentally, we just weren't here. We had no emotion, no fire with us. The second quarter, we decided to wake up and come play and we came out with fire...and we played well from then on."
The Devilettes led 42-32 through three periods before Leah McAlister had eight of her 21 in the fourth for the Lady Eagles, who forced overtime tied 54-54. She also scored eight in the first period.
Lebanon sank 8 of 9 free throws in the four-minute extra session as the Devilettes moved to 6-7 for the season.
"That was the difference in the overtime, we knocked our free throws down," said Brown, whose Devilettes will return to face Marshall County at 1 p.m. today. "We walked up there and knocked them down like we had to to put them away."
Icelyn Elie led Lebanon with 17 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. Jasmin Brooks and Ebony Marshall each tossed in 12 while London Elie added eight and Kim Ha two overtime free throws.
Rebecca Pratt fired in four three-pointers on her way to 14 points, all after halftime, for Ezell-Harding. Kara Davis dropped in 13.
Lebanon will close the tournament at 1 p.m. Saturday against Dickson County in the fifth-place game. Marshall County is not in the tournament bracket, requesting to play only a couple of games instead. The Lady Tigers faced host Smyrna in Thursday's late game.

Webb snares Lady Wildcats with first loss
GREENEVILLE — Wilson Central's powerful post game found a match Thursday night.
Knoxville Webb got 35 points from two of its inside players as the Lady Spartans handed the Lady Wildcats their first official loss since winning the Class AAA championship last spring 52-48 in the Green County Ladies Classic at Hal Henard Gym.
Connecticut-committment Gloria Johnson totaled 22 points for Webb while securing seven of her 11 rebounds on the offensive end. Fellow post Faith Dupree threw in 13, sinking 6 of 8 shots in the first half as the Lady Spartans trailed 29-27 in a see-saw affair.
"We just had a hard time cutting the posts off," Central coach Bud Brandon said after his Lady Wildcats, who did lose a TSSAA Hall of Champions game to Riverdale in overtime in November, slipped to 13-1. That's hard to believe. But they have two good post players too."
Webb didn't shut down Central's Tierney Jenkins and Jasmine Hassell either as they totaled 20 and 16 points, respectively. Sara Williams scored six while Jessyca Christopher and Lauren Wasson each threw in a three-pointer.
Brandon pointed to the free-throw disparity as a difference. Webb, which had no field goals in the fourth quarter, threw in 13 of 19 from the line while Central sank just four of eight. The teams tied on the glass 29-29. The Lady Wildcats, normally very productive from outside, connected on just two three-pointers while the Lady Spartans made only one.
"They gave us a great opportunity," Brandon said. "We did not gather ourselves on offense and execute. We didn't play well."
Central is expected to face D-II power Briarcrest at 3 p.m. CST today in the fifth-place bracket.

Tigerettes no match for Community
UNIONVILLE — Community's guards created matchup problems for Watertown on Thursday as the host Viqueens took down the Tigerettes 51-28 in the Bedford County Classic.
The Viqueens led 12-7 following the first quarter, 17-10 at halftime and 32-18 through three periods as they improved to 9-1.
"They're a guard-oriented team, press a lot," Watertown coach Jeff Luttrell said after his Tigerettes fell to 8-4. "We didn't do a very good job of handling the press. They caused a lot of matchup problems for us."
Center Miaushia Thompson finished with 14 points for Watertown while Brittnee Sells tossed in two three-pointers on her way to 10. Sarah Reeder also threw in a trey and Amanda Montgomery a free throw.
The Classic wraps up tonight on the other side of Bedford County at Cascade as the Tigerettes face the hosts at 7 p.m.

Lady Commanders win foul-filled fray in overtime
JACKSON — Friendship Christian's girls opened the Jackson Christian Tournament with a 68-63 overtime win over Harding Academy in a foul-filled fray.
Seventy-eight free throws were shot in this opening game which threw the rest of the tournament an hour behind. Harding lost four girls to fouls, leaving the Lady Lions with just four players on the floor.
Chelsea Essary's three-pointer at the regulation buzzer lifted the Lady Lions into a 60-60 tie before the Lady Commanders prevailed in the extra four-minute session to improve to 4-3.
Friendship will face Mars Hill (Ala.) at 4 p.m. today in the semifinals.
Lindsey Farmer led the Lady Commanders with 17 ponts before fouling out in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Carly Warmath scored 16 while Katy Vaughan tossed in 12 and Jessi Couch 11. Gabbie Lowe supplied six, Jody Leftwich four and Lacey Farmer two.
Guard Lauren Cook tossed in 20 points for Harding while Amanda Favazza tossed in 10 and Essary and Alex Black 10 apiece.
Harding led 15-11 following the first quarter, 27-20 at halftime and 41-39 through three periods.

Lady Bears bulldoze into Civitan final
NASHVILLE — Mt. Juliet continue to play well despite the season-ending loss of guard Taylor Hall as the Lady Bears bounced Christ Presbyterian 74-41 in the semifinals of the Nashville Civitan Christmas Tournament at McGavock.
The Lady Bears moved into tonight's 7 p.m. final against host McGavock, which upset Hillsboro in the other semifinal, with a 14-1 record. It's a rematch of the Leroy Wright Thanksgiving Tournament in November which Mt. Juliet won 83-38. MJ also beat the host Lady Raiders 60-45 in the season opener.
Mt. Juliet led 22-7 following the first quarter and 41-23 at halftime as Coach Chris Fryer, in an attempt to find depth, was able to play his bench early and often.
One of the backups, 5-9 sophomore post Macie Gleaves, came in after starter Heather Miller developed early foul trouble and led the Lady Bears with 19 points while veteran K.C. VanAtta threw in three 3-pointers on her way to 15. Jordan Nixon tossed in 12 while Miller hit 4 of 5 shots for eight.
Miaca Bowman scored six while freshman Chelsea Brown and point guard Rebecca Sharpe each finished with five and Megan Read and Corley Bell tossed in two apiece.
Hall tore her ACL last week against Franklin.
"She's responsible for 15 points and she's reponsible for Jordan Nixon getting a lot of points," Fryer said of Hall. "She's been our leading assist person and she was making a lot of passes.
"It really hurts our team. It's a devastating loss."