The defending state champion Lady Warriors showed the rest of the state that they are ready to repeat as champs with a 102-41 (that is not a misprint) win against McMinn County at home.

“We are very fortunate to be going back,” Lady Warriors head coach John Wild said. “We had a tough path to get there. We just try to capture the moment. We will celebrate until Monday and then we will come back and start focusing on the tournament.” Meanwhile, Blackman earned its second trip with a 44-27 triumph at Bradley Central on Saturday night.

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Scoring

Riverdale: Alexa Middleton 15, Tyisha Perry 17, Ashley Henry 14, Olivia Jones 23, Shacobia Barbee 21, Jessica Azor 2, Toyree Watkins 6, Kenia Azor 1, Mattie Cantrell 3

McMinn County: Cara Smith 3, Hannah Brown 19, Jessica Murillo 2, Haley Ward 6, Aisha Brewster 3, English Derrick 2, Jessica Shirk 1, KeKe Smith 2, Rachel Burke 3

Blackman 44, Bradley Central 27

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Riverdale came into Saturday’s game with only one loss, to the Blaze, and faced a Lady Cherokee team that fought to finish runner-up in the region even with a losing record. However, McMinn County could not repeat its 2003 sectional win over the Lady Warriors. This was the first meeting between the two schools since that game.

The Lady Warriors used the full court press to confuse their opponent and they raced out to a 20-5 lead halfway through the first quarter. The defense held the Lady Cherokees to only 10 points after the opening quarter. The pressure was turned up in the following quarter and the halftime score was 70-19.

After the first half, Riverdale shot an amazing 77 percent from the field, while the Lady Cherokee had only four rebounds, but turned the ball more than 15 times. The only question was could Riverdale hit the century mark?

The fourth quarter was played under the mercy rule, which included a running clock except for fouls. Riverdale was up 86-35 after three quarters. With subs in the game, the Lady Warriors got closer and closer to 100 when junior Toyree Watkins was fouled with 2:23 left in the game up 99-38. Watkins came to the line calmly knocked both free throws. The huge crowd in attendance went crazy after she made the first one.

“I was worried about if I was going to hit them or not,” Watkins said after the game. “I just hit them for the team.

Riverdale finished the game out-rebounding its opponents 30 to 6 and shot more than 60 percent in the second half. The defense caused 26 miscues by McMinn County.

All five Riverdale starters finished in double figures with Olivia Jones leading the way with 23 points. Miss Basketball finalist Shacobia Barbee had 21, Tyisha Perry chipped in with 17, Alexa Middleton added 15 and Ashley Henry finished with 14.

The bracket for the 2011 TSSAA Girls State Tournament will be unveiled at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Could there be a third meeting between the Rutherford County rivals with the 2010-11 season series tied at one apiece? Remember the Lady Blaze ended a long winning streak by Riverdale in the district tournament, but the Lady Warriors got revenge in the regional tournament.

Will the third meeting decide it all? However, there are six other teams in Class AAA that want to grab the crown as the best in the state.

Before the game, the Lady Warriors honored former MTSU star Tina Stewart by coming out with purple T-shirts with the No. 20, which was the number of the player that was fatally stabbed last week.

“A lot of us were real close to her,” Watkins said. “We just wanted to do something in honor of her.” The arena also held a moment of silence before tip-off.