| Girls high school tourney set to start |
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By: JEFF JORDAN, Special to the Post
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Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:31 pm
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The District 7AAA girl’s high school tournament gets underway at 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon at La Vergne High.
The first game features the Siegel girls (17-8) taking on the Oakland Lady Patriots (11-15).
Siegel swept the series this year, but in the second victory, the Lady Stars won by only nine (51-42). A region berth is at stake.
For Siegel, the player to watch is always the speedy Shanice Cason but Caralisa Connell and Imani Chatman can inflict serious damage. For Oakland, Monica Barrett and Ellen Riggins usually lead the scoring.
The winner of game one takes on the state’s No. 3 ranked and League Champion Riverdale Lady Warriors (21-2) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
The RHS players to watch are numerous but certainly include Jaclissa Haislip and Shacobia Barbee. Riverdale swept the regular season series against both Oakland and Siegel this year.
In the second girl’s game at 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Blackman girls (18-5) play the Smyrna girls (14-11).
Blackman won both match ups this season, the first by 21 points and the second by 14 points.
There is no question who leads the Lady Blaze – it’s Shelby Campbell, No. 20. She will have fire in her eyes, especially with a region berth one victory away.
Smyrna’s Katie Williams is one of the top three scorers in the county and leads the Lady Dogs with help from Toyree Watkins and others. The very competitive Williams will not want her excellent high school career to end here.
The winner of Smyrna/Blackman will take on No. 2 seed and state-ranked LaVergne (24-2) at 7"30 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Wolverines are not short of stars with Jasmine Brimm leading the county in scoring and 6-foot 5-inch Stephanie Myers in the post. They have plenty of help. During the year, LaVergne beat Smyrna twice but by only 3 (62-59) just a few days ago.
Versus Blackman, LaVergne swept but by the tight scores of 50-46 and 58-51. Both games were close throughout.
The girls tournament is more ripe for an upset than the boys and it may happen in the first round.
Someone you don’t expect usually steps up in a tournament setting. Look for someone like Smyrna’s Paige Malone, LaVergne’s Jasmine Dale, Kayla Hunt or the still injured, LaQuinta Jefferson, Siegel’s Kelsey Naish, Oakland’s Ke Ke Cook, Blackman’s Tiera Norris, Kelsey Nowlin or Katie Smith or Riverdale’s Olivia Jones or Ashley Henry to come through in the clutch.
The most underrated player in the county for at least two years has been Katie Williams of Smyrna, but everyone knows her now. That underrated title now belongs to Riverdale’s Ashley Henry or, maybe, LaVergne’s Jasmine Dale.
Also the often snow-delayed 9A tournament resumes Thursday night in Chapel Hill and Rutherford County has two schools still alive. The MTCS girls (20-7) and No. 3-seed play Moore County (21-6) at 7:30 Thursday night, and the Lady Cougars have a region berth secured.
The Eagleville boys, League Champions and now 20- 5, play Forrest 10-18 at 6 p.m. Thursday, and the Eagles also have a region berth secured. The Region for both teams will be at East Robertson – it’s not the end of the earth but you can see it from there.
The Murfreesboro Post will have nightly updates on the Web during the tournaments and in Sunday’s print edition. |
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