Lady Wildcats upend No. 1 Mt. Juliet

GLADEVILLE — Making a few adjustments from their meeting at Mt. Juliet last month, Wilson Central's girls controlled tempo Tuesday night and the Lady Wildcats knocked off the top-ranked Lady Bears 63-51.
Less than a month after Mt. Juliet used its speed and quickness to beat Central at Tommy Martin Gym, the Lady Wildcats established their halfcourt and post game. Tierney Jenkins, in foul trouble at The Cave, totaled 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists as Central handed the Lady Bears their first loss to a Tennessee team and snapped their 19-game winning streak.
"Last time we got carried away on the three ball a little bit and tonight we were four out of eight and were a little more selective," Central coach Bud Brandon said after his co-No. 4 Lady Wildcats climbed to 24-3 for the season and clinched the second seed in the upcoming District 9-AAA tournament at 9-2. "We needed to get our post game more involved and we didn't do that over there.
"Our interior game is what we've got to have and our girls did a good job of carrying the game plan out and getting the post players involved. And we were four out of eight from threes and you can't ask for much better than that."
Jenkins said, "We watched film and saw how they made us rush our shots. So we wanted to slow it down as much as possible."
"The scoring went about like I thought it was going to go," Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer said. "But it did get into more of a halfcourt game at times. We had trouble getting the game sped up tonight.
"I think everybody sets the tone at home."
Mt. Juliet slipped to 24-2 with the Lady Bears' first loss since a Dec. 2 setback to Lexington (Ky.) Catholic. They still have the top seed in the district tournament locked up at 10-1 with Gallatin coming to The Cave for the regular-season finale at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"The effort was good on both sides," Fryer said. "It was a good experience for us to go into an environment where we're playing away from home and having to compete against a quality team. It really makes you look forward to the tournament."
It was Central's third straight win against a team ranked in the Associated Press top 10. The Lady Wildcats knocked off Shelbyville [which now shares No. 4 with Central] and current No. 10 Smyrna within the last two weeks.
"I don't know if you'd call it peaking or not," Brandon said. "But we have seniors, we have players, that have been there before. They have been to the post[season] before and they know what we need to do this time of year.
"Our leaders are walking and we got people following behind them. But your great teams work hard after big wins and that's what we got to do. This is a big win for us and it's a good time of the year to have this type of win. But we got to keep working hard."
Playing before a crowd estimated at 1,750, Central scored the first five points and never trailed as Jenkins tossed in 10 points and former Lady Bear Chelsea Burroughs a pair of three-pointers. But Rebecca Sharpe sank a three-pointer from the wing to bring the Lady Bears within 20-17 at the first-period break.
The 2006 state champions led by as much as eight points in the second quarter on a couple of occasions before the '05 champs drew within five late in the first half. Senior Sara Williams scored off the glass in the post to widen the Lady Wildcats' lead to 34-27 by halftime.
Central led by nine on a couple of occasions in the third quarter before senior Miaca Bowman shot in a triple from the wing to bring the Lady Bears within 44-38 going into the fourth.
A 25-footer by K.C. VanAtta cut the margin to 49-43 in the fourth before sophomore Jasmine Hassell, who finished with 14 points from the post, scored back-to-back baskets and Burroughs a coast-to-coast layup to open a 55-43 spread.
Burroughs overcame first-half foul trouble to add eight points while Williams scored seven and Lauren Farmer and Lauren Wasson five each as the Lady Wildcats shot 65.7 percent from the floor and controlled the glass 32-18.
Sharpe, who fouled out, and VanAtta each fired in 15 while Bowman tossed in 12 as the trio combined for all seven Mt. Juliet three-pointers. Jordan Nixon added eight and Heather Miller a free throw as the Lady Bears hit just 37.8 percent from the floor.
While Mt. Juliet is hosting Gallatin, Central will travel to last-place Hendersonville. As the No. 1 seed, the Lady Bears will get a first-round bye into the semifinals at Beech and also receive a berth in the Region 5-AAA tournament. The Lady Wildcats will probably host Hendersonville in the first round next week.

Lady Commanders race past Lady Saints
After having to come from behind in the fourth quarter to win at Mt. Juliet Christian last month, Friendship Christian had little trouble with the Lady Saints in Tuesday night's rematch, racing to a 78-36 conquest at the Bay Family Sportsplex.
The Lady Commanders led 10-6 following the first quarter and 39-17 at halftime as Friendship pulled even at 12-12 for the season and 8-3, good for third place, in District 8-A.
Friendship will travel to Merrol Hyde at 6 p.m. Friday for the regular-season finale before hosting a first-round district tournament game next week.
The Lady Saints slipped to 13-13 and a final 3-9 in the district. They will host Lighthouse Christian at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Lindsay Farmer scored 17 points for Friendship while Jessi Couch and Carly Warmath each threw in 13 and eighth-grader Laurel Burroughs a varsity career-high 10. Stephanie Lancaster notched nine points while Katy Vaughan added eight, Gabbie Lowe four, Sara Hay three free throws and Lauran Douglass a free throw.
Freshman Lacey Farmer sat out Tuesday's game due to a concussion sustained Monday in the loss to Westmoreland.
Christine Humes had 11 points for Mt. Juliet Christian while Ashley Hudson added eight, Kristen Tewmey five, Paige Hudson four, Leanna Sanders and Holly Morgan two each and Cali Beard, Anna Haley, Alexx Billings and Kelly Adkisson a free throw apiece.

Devilettes whip Warren County for 10th triumph
MCMINNVILLE — Lebanon overcame a slow-shooting night to whip host Warren County 55-32 Tuesday night.
The win was the Devilettes' 10th of the season, matching the total of the previous three seasons combined. They are 10-17 overall and 6-7 in District 7-AAA, locked into fifth place with a first-round tournament trip to Oakland next week.
"We've taken a big step forward," said first-year Lebanon coach Darian Brown, whose Devilettes will close their district schedule at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Siegel. "We had as a goal we wanted to finish at least .500 in the district. So Friday's game is big for us."
Lebanon led 11-6 following the first quarter, 31-16 at halftime and 47-21 through three periods.
Crystal Howse had 18 points for Lebanon while Icelyn Elie finished with 15, London Elie six, Ebony Marshall four; Jasmin Brooks, Kelsey Blackburn and Dee Kendall three each, Shay Coggins two and Aquarius Huddleston a free throw.
"We started off really slow," said Brown, whose Devilettes dropped in just 3 of 20 three-pointers. "We moved the ball well and had great looks at the basket. But we couldn't throw it into the ocean.
"But defensively, I was pleased with what we did."

Gordonsville gets away from Watertown late in third quarter
GORDONSVILLE — Watertown was within striking distance of Gordonsville until the hosts ran off the final 10 points of the third quarter and went on to win 45-26 Tuesday night.
"It was a good night until two minutes to go in the third, and then it got ugly," Watertown coach Jeff Luttrell said after his Tigerettes fell to 13-11 for the season and a final 6-6 in District 8-A, giving them a first-round home game in the league tournament next week.
Watertown led 7-5 following the first quarter and 19-13 at halftime. The host Tigerettes [both teams use the same mascot] led 19-17 before Gordonsville bolted to a 29-17 margin going into the fourth.
"They rebounded," Luttrell said of Gordonsville. "They wore us down on the offensive glass in the third quarter. They got a lot of second-chance points."
Brittany Armistead threw in three 3-pointers on her way to 15 points for Gordonsville while Taryn Smith tossed in 12 from the backcourt.
Brittnee Sells sank a pair of threes as she led all scorers with 16 for Watertown. Miaushia Thompson added eight and Carley Smith two.
Watertown will return to Smith County on Thursday when the Tigerettes finish their regular season at Carthage with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.