| High school tourney: Close games opening night |
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By: JEFF JORDAN, Special to The Post
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Posted: Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:22 am
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It was a four-game opening night in the 7AAA Basketball Tournament at La Vergne High on Friday. and among the four games we had close wins, an overtime, an upset and some outstanding performances and best of all, no blowouts.
In game one Friday, the Siegel girls (18 – 8) opened play with a solid 58-44 win over Oakland (11 – 16). The spirited Lady Pats took a 16-10 lead into the second quarter but had a miserable quarter being out scored 13-2.
The long scoring drought, brought on by excellent pressure team defense from Siegel, proved to be Oakland’s undoing and they never recovered. Ellen Riggins tossed in 19 for Oakland, and Shanice (The Blur) Cason) led the Stars with 20
points and many steals. Caralisa Connell helped the Siegel cause with 12 while Sarah Donkin and Imani Chatman both had nine.
With the win, Siegel did two things: they advanced to the Region Tournament next week, and they advanced in the District Tournament to play state-ranked Riverdale (21-2) Monday at 4 at La Vergne High.
In game two, the Blackman boys (6-16) picked a bad night to shoot poorly and Smyrna (12-17) had enough to hold on and win 47-36.
The game was close throughout, but the Dogs were able to keep their 8-point first quarter lead and win by seven. J.D. White led Blackman with 12 while DaJuan Brown had 8. P.J Whittaker led Smyrna with 14 while Wayne Jones had 12 and Josh Woodard had 9.
With the win Smyrna advances to the Region next week and play the District Champion Oakland boys Saturday at 5:30.
In game three, the Smyrna girls (14-12) jumped out to an early lead over the slightly favored Blackman girls (19 – 5) and it took until the 1:30 mark left in the game before Blackman could catch up and take a lead.
The Lady Blaze couldn’t hold it and went into overtime tied at 38. In the overtime, Kortnay Cox (16 points) hit a field goal and two foul shots to seal the 42-38 win. The four points by Cox were the only points scored by either team in the OT.
Shelby Campbell played better and better as the game progressed and finished with 13. Smyrna did it’s best to ride Katie Williams to a win, Katie finished with a game high 19.
With the win, Blackman will advance to the Region next week and take on the state ranked LaVergne girls (24-2) Saturday night at 7.
I promised you an upset and game four was it. The Riverdale boys (16-5), with T.J. Chesterfield back from injury, upset the host La Vergne boys 56 – 45.
La Vergne had beaten RHS twice this year so this RHS win was unexpected. The victory was no fluke as Riverdale led 14-7 at the end of quarter one and 25-22 at the half.
La Vergne, who suffered a poor shooting night, spent the entire evening trying to catch the Warriors and finally did at 39-39 with 5:36 left but soon found themselves trailing again.
The Warriors used a combination of a “run and jump” man pressure defense and a zone to keep La Vergne off balance. It worked.
With two minutes left and Riverdale nursing a 3-point lead, the three C’s went to work. Vari Craig (22 points) had two field goals and three free throws in the last two
minutes, while Chesterfield had four free throws and Travaris Clarke had a free throw and finished with 17 points.
Julian Reese led La Vergne with 12 while Tyler Irvin had 8. With the win Riverdale advances to the Region next week and on Saturday, the Warriors will play Siegel (18 – 7) at 8:30.
In the first night of the District, the crowd was a very good one and everything went smoothly as it was obvious that AD Gary Miller and Asst. Principal George Hockenberry had planned
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