TMSAA EAST TENNESSEE CLASS A GIRLS SECTIONAL Cloudland, Hampton advance to semifinals

Published 12:33 am Thursday, February 6, 2020

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
KINGSPORT – Three Carter County girls’ teams took to the court on Tuesday night at John Sevier Middle School in Kingsport looking to advance to Thursday evening’s semifinal round with a trip to the state championship hanging in the balance.
 
When the dust settled, two of those teams survived while the third feel short after playing inspired basketball for the first half before losing steam in the second half.
Game 1
Ridgeview….36
Hunter………23
For the first 12 minutes, the Hunter Lady Tigers played inspired basketball staying step for step with the Ridgeview Lady Raptors as the Lady Tigers only trailed 18-14 at the intermission.
Jill Faust led the way in the opening half for Hunter with five points while Mattie Salyer totaled four to make for an exciting half of play.
The second half was a different story for Hunter as turnovers and a stingy Lady Raptor defense turned things around quickly allowing Ridgeview to pull away from the Lady Tigers down the stretch.
Hunter only managed five points in the second half and couldn’t keep up with outbursts in the final half.
Faust and Salyer finished with five points in the game to lead the Lady Tigers who concluded their season with the loss. A trio of Lady Tigers finished with three points each in the game including Haley Taylor, Julie Tolley, and Alisha Harrell.
Katlyn Dugger registered two points while Emma Taylor added one point.
Kyliegh Bacon led the Lady Raptors in the game with 18 points with three treys factored into the total. Josie Jenkins also scored eight points for Ridgeview.
Game 2
Hampton……….32
Boones Creek…25
To look at the final score, the game appears a lot closer than what it really was as the Lady Bulldogs of Hampton dominated early in the contest allowing the Lady Barrs of Boones Creek only four points in the first half – three coming on a trey as the horn sounded to end the half.
Hampton, meanwhile, put up 17 in the opening half forcing the Lady Barrs into turnovers and yielding only one shot on the offensive end and often getting three and four shots at the hoop on their end.
Taylor Berry continued her strong postseason play leading Hampton with nine points in the opening half. Macy Henry added five points and Piper Helle three points to help the Lady ‘Dogs build their lead.
Boones Creek faired a little better in the second half outscoring Hampton 9-7 in the third quarter and 12-8 in the fourth quarter with the Lady Bulldogs making their 13-point halftime edge stand down the stretch.
Hampton was led by Berry’s 16 points in the contest. Henry finished with nine points and Helle collected five points.
Hannah Smith picked up the final two points in the game for Hampton.
Jayden Riddle led the Lady Barrs with 11 points. Addison Dietz finished with 10.
Game 3
Cloudland…………47
Sulphur Springs….15
The Cloudland Lady Highlanders came into the game with a taste for some chicken and dumplings and the Sulphur Springs Lady Gamecocks provided the perfect team to dine on as the Lady Highlanders turned the Lady Gamecocks every which way but loose in taking the 32-point victory.
In a game that never was in doubt, Cloudland bolted out to a 23-10 lead at the intermission and kept the foot to the gas in the second half.
Bella Clawson was the master butcher in the contest as the Lady ‘Lander was letting the ax fall from deep behind the arc for a game-high 17 points that included five treys.
Ryan Turbyfill played stead throughout scoring 10 points but directing the Cloudland offense was her most important task on the night.
Saharra McKinney was giving her best impression of the Roadrunner in the contest quickly pushing the offense up the floor and frustrating Sulphur Springs on the defensive end with her quick response to their breakaways.
McKinney finished with eight points.
Izabella Christman also played steadily for Cloudland scoring seven points but utilizing her height to make the Lady Gamecocks readjust their shots while pulling down key rebounds.
Layken Blair and Mia Clark closed out the scoring for the Lady ‘Landers scoring three and two points respectively.
Bella Ferguson scored 10 to pace Sulphur Springs while Matti Phillips collected the final five for the Lady Gamecocks.
With the win, Cloudland and Hampton are now set to square off tonight at 5:30 pm in one of the girls’ semifinal games while the Hampton boys take the court against Jonesborough at 6:30 pm in one of the boys’ semifinal contest.
Winners advance to Saturday’s championship contests with a berth to the state championship on the line.

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