Central girls win, Mt. Juliet loses on first day

Local rivals open play in Greeneville tournament

From staff reports

GREENEVILLE — Wilson Central and Mt. Juliet are headed in opposite directions in the Landair Ladies Classic after the Lady Wildcats won and the Lady Bears lost on the first day of the four-day tournament Wednesday at Hal Henard Hall.

The Lady Wildcats rolled past nearby West Greene 72-33 after the Lady Bears were upended by Morristown West  55-45.

Central shot out to a 16-8 first-quarter lead and carried a 27-17 lead into halftime before widening the margin to 45-27 going into the fourth as the Lady Wildcats climbed to 5-6 going into tonight's 6 p.m. CST second-round game against Christian Academy of Knoxville, a 71-33 winner over Morristown East.

“It’s a good team win, and our bench came in and giave us a good lift,” Central coach Bud Brandon said.

The Lady Wildcats forced 29 turnovers while committing just six.

Autumn Hopkins hit three 3-pointers in leading the Lady Wildcats with 21 points while Rachel Bean tossed in 12 and fellow post Dominique St. Louis 11. Kendall Spray sank a pair of threes on her way to 10.

Hannah Brewer and Rachel Burkett each finished with four points, Sydney Comer and Sarah Duncan three apiece and Hailey Averitt and Kayla Jackson two each.

Charlotte Murphy managed a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds for West Greene.

“Dominique played against a really good player,” Brandon said. “She’s still trying to meet the challenge to get better.”

West's zone causes disastrous second quarter for Lady Bears

A bad second quarter did in Mt. Juliet as the Lady Bears were outscored 10-2, seeing a 13-9 first-period lead turn into a 19-15 halftime deficit as West's zone proved too problematic.

The Lady Trojans widened their lead to 39-28 going into the fourth quarter as the Lady Bears lost their third straight in falling to 7-5.

Jecca Simerly scored 13 points and Jenna Potts 10 for the Lady Trojans, who tossed in 22 of 32 free throws in improving to  8-5.

Most of Mt. Juliet's scoring production came from inside as Ronjanae DeGray notched 19 points and Sally McCabe 18. Savannah Sanders sank a pair of three-pointers for her six while Tyia Waller tossed in two free throws as the Lady Bears shot well, hitting 17 of 32 shots from the floor but getting just nine chances from the free-throw line, hitting eight.

Mt. Juliet will play at noon CST today in the consolation bracket against Holy Name, Ohio, a 49-39 loser to host Greeneville last night.