Lady Wildcats leave Smyrna behind 66-45

GLADEVILLE — Tuesday's top-10 showdown between No. 7 Smyrna and No. 5 Wilson Central was a good game – for the Lady Wildcats.
With Tierney Jenkins leading the way with 23 points and 13 rebounds, Central took charge in the second quarter and made it a surprisingly one-sided contest 66-45.
The Lady Wildcats led all the way. Smyrna tied the score 12-12 on an Emily Pollock free threw with just over two minutes left in the first period before senior Lauren Farmer swished back-to-back three-pointers on her first two shots of the night to sent Central into an 18-12 lead at the quarter break.
Chelsea Burroughs opened the second quarter with another triple as Central reeled off 12 straight points to seize control.
"We did a great job in the transition game," Central coach Bud Brandon said after his Lady Wildcats took the inside track to second place in District 9-AAA at 7-2 and moved to 22-3 for the season. "We had our perimeter people and our post players on the same page tonight. We did a good job of feeding the posts and reading the help and kicking it out and hit our threes. Ran our fastbreak well tonight.
"We had a lot of court sense."
Burroughs tossed in 10 of her 12 points in the first half as Central built a 36-22 lead late.
The only glitch came after Smyrna stole the ball with five seconds left in the half on a play Brandon thought was a foul. Dyman Raynor swished a short jumper at the buzzer to bring the Lady Bulldogs within 36-24. Brandon was called for a technical foul as he walked off the court. Ashley Meeks sank two free throws at the start of the second half off the technical and followed with a layup to draw the Lady 'Dawgs within eight.
But Lauren Wasson answered with a three on the other end and the Wildcats widened the margin back to 50-34 going into the fourth.
Central's fastbreak was clicking in the fourth as the Lady Wildcats led by as much as 62-35.
It was a far cry from the teams' meeting Jan. 4 in Smyrna when the Lady Bulldogs prevailed.
"We wanted to hit our free throws," Brandon said. "We didn't hit our free throws over there. We didn't shoot the ball well."
That wasn't the case in the rematch as Central shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half and finished the game at 44.7. The Lady Wildcats connected on 18 of 23 free throws.
"Our execution's better," Brandon said. "We took care of the ball better. We executed our offense better. I think we're improving.
"This is the time of year to improve."
Christopher notched nine points while Farmer, who impressed Brandon and assistant Campbell Brandon with her four rebounds, added eight [including one off an offensive carom]. Jasmine Hassell scored seven, Wasson five and Sara Williams two. Williams finished with five assists and Jenkins four.
Pollock pumped in two triples on her way to 13 points while Raynor racked up 12 for the Lady Bulldogs, who dropped to 19-5, 6-3.
Central will travel to Gallatin at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Lady Cavs gets away from Devilettes in final four minutes
COOKEVILLE — Playing Cookeville's grind-it-out style, Lebanon stayed on the Lady Cavaliers' heels until the final four minutes of a 45-32 Cav conquest Tuesday night.
"It was a tale of the first 3 1/2 quarters and the one of the last four minutes," Lebanon coach Darian Brown said after his Devilettes dropped to 9-15 for the season and 5-6 in District 7-AAA.
Lebanon led 8-6 following the first quarter before falling behind 16-14 by halftime and 27-26 through three periods.
"You're not going to get them out of that pace," Brown said of the Lady Cavaliers' style. "We're unable to make the pace faster because we've had some injuries.
"The last 4 1/2 minutes we didn't execute and do the things we'd done all night. Defensively, we broke down in coverage. We gave up three straight tripls of layups and it put us behind the eight ball."
Erin Helton hammered home 15 points from the post for Cookeville.
Jasmin Brooks threw in 13 from outside for Lebanon while Icelyn Elie added eight, Ebony Marshall and London Elie four each and Kim Ha a three-pointer.
It gets no easier for the Devilettes Friday when they welcome No. 6 Riverdale to Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court for district action at 6:30 p.m. Friday and travel to Tommy Martin Gym 24 hours later to take on top-ranked Mt. Juliet.

Lady Bears overtake early Beech lead, improve to 22-1
MT. JULIET — Top-ranked Mt. Juliet gave up an early touchdown to Beech before shooting the Lady Buccaneers out of their zone and posting a 63-56 victory Tuesday at Tommy Martin Gym.
Beech led 7-0 before Mt. Juliet overtook the Lady Bucs 19-11 by first-quarter's end. The Lady Bears led 36-25 at halftime and 51-41 through three periods as they climbed to 23-1 for the season and 10-0 in District 9-AAA.
"They played a little zone to begin the game and we finally started to hit some shots," Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer said. "I'll take 19 points in a quarter."
K.C. VanAtta poured in five three-pointers to lead the Lady Bears with 19 points. Heather Miller hit 5 of 6 shots from the floor and also from the free-throw line as she and fellow post Jordan Nixon each notched 15. Rebecca Sharpe sank two triples for half of her 12 while freshman Chelsea Brown, who got a lot of minutes after senior Miaca Bowman went down with a turned ankle in the first half, tossed in two.
Abby Jackson totaled 22 points from the high post for Beech while Rachel Henry hit four triples on her way to 14.
"Beech played well," Fryer said. "They came out ready to play. They shot the ball really well."
Mt. Juliet will have an extra day to get Bowman healed up before welcoming Lebanon to Martin Gym at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.