Lady Rangers fall to Summertown in state semifinals
Published 8:27 pm Friday, March 9, 2018
- Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Unaka's Erika Potter fights between two Summertown defenders to get off a shot.
The run has ended.
A turnover-heavy first half would be too much for the Unaka Lady Rangers to overcome as they fell 57-44 to the Summertown Lady Eagles during the TSSAA Class A Semifinals in Murfreesboro Friday.
Unaka gave up 13 turnovers in the first two periods before having 17 for the entire contest. The Lady Eagles would post 20 points off of turnovers during the contest.
However, according to Unaka head coach Kenneth Chambers, Friday’s loss does not reflect the type of team the Lady Rangers are, a team that won the program’s first-ever state tournament game. The 2018 Lady Rangers also won the Region 1-A Championship while going 28-10 on the season.
“I am proud these girls,” said Chambers. “It was a team effort all the way through this. They played and they never quit. They could have lost in the district and maybe in the region, but they had a no-quit attitude, and because of that, we were able to pull out a lot of ball games.”
Unaka’s Sarah Tipton started the contest out with a 3-pointer before Summertown’s Lauren Graves answered with a trifecta of her own. With 2:53 left in the first, a jumper from Unaka’s Erika Potter tied the contest up at nine before the Lady Eagles knocked down two free throws in the final four second to head into the second up 11-9.
The Lady Eagles climbed out to an eight-point lead before a 3-pointer from Unaka’s Sydney Markland would help narrow the edge to four points midway through the second. Summertown, however, would push out to a 30-22 lead heading into intermission. For Unaka, Myah Parlier had nine first-half points.
In the third quarter, the Lady Eagles climbed out to a sizable 14-point lead before Unaka’s Parlier connected on four straight points to cut Summertown’s lead to 38-31 heading into the final eight minutes.
A layup from Unaka’s Sydney Forney would get the Lady Rangers within eight points of the Lady Eagles in the fourth before Summertown stayed consistent at the foul line to hold on for the win.
At the state tournament level, losses always hit hard, especially for senior players.
“I have never got to experience anything like this in my life, and I am happy to have to come down here and experience it with my family,” said Unaka senior Lexi Garland after Friday’s contest.
Unaka senior Sarah Tipton was also on hand during Friday’s postgame press conference.
“I want to thank the community for supporting us,” said Tipton. “I have the best team ever. I am so thankful that I got to play with them this year. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the great coaches that we have and the parents.”
Coach Chambers echoed Tipton’s sentiments about the Unaka community.
“You saw how many people we had out there that made the trip,” said Chambers. “A lot of them drove home and came back. Kids drove home and came back. Great support, and a great community coming together. These girls made history this year.”
Parlier finished with 14 points for Unaka while Garland had eight and Sarah Tipton finished with seven.
