Rhea County Lady Eagles hold-off Stone Memorial Panthers to advance to the 2nd Round of the Dist 6-AAA Tourney to play Cumberland County Lady Jets.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Cookeville, TN – Rhea County Lady Eagles, the three seed, played sixth seed Stone Memorial in the opening round of the District Tournament, played at Cookeville High School on Saturday afternoon. The game was probably closer than the seeding would have indicated. After the first quarter, the Lady Eagles held a slim 12-11 lead.
[shashin type=”photo” id=”1230″ size=”medium” columns=”max” order=”user” caption=”y” position=”right”]
Beginning the second quarter it was Wallis, Levi and Brown scored early in the second quarter to push the lead to 18-13 with six minutes left in the quarter. With 4:18 the Rhea County still clung to a 20-17 lead and the score stayed 20-17 for three minutes until Stone Memorial shot a three from the corner that rolled around and dropped through the net for a 20-20 tie with 1:22 left until halftime. In the last minute of the half Amber Levi made a great spin move at the free throw line and drove for the short shot off the glass for and followed that effort up with a short jumper to give Rhea County a 24-20 lead at the half.
[shashin type=”photo” id=”1232″ size=”medium” columns=”max” order=”user” caption=”y” position=”left”]
Stone Memorial rallied early in third for a 27-27 tie and Wallis scored a basket with 4:18 left in the third to give Rhea County a 29-27 lead. A couple of minutes later Stone Memorial came hit a short jumper along the baseline for a 30-30 tie with 2:28 left. With two minutes left, Kelsey Miles drown down the lane for a lay-in to put Lady Eagles up 32-30 and Jessee Wallis had the big block and Julie Brown made two free throws for a 4 point lead that quickly became a one point lead when with 4 seconds left in the third the Lady Panthers hit a big three point shot.
The Lady Panthers took the lead early in the fourth quarter until Jessee Wallis hit two free throws to put the Lady Eagles up 36-35 but Stone Memorial came back down and drove the lane for two and an apparent 37-36 lead with 5:28 left in the quarter but that two never made the board as Kelsey Miles took the charge and momentum changed. Brown slipped inside for two and Jessee Wallis came up with the steal and basket at the other end for a 40-35 lead. Stone Memorial continued to stay close but never could close the gap in the final two minutes. Kelsey Miles combined for 6 free throws and Thurman and Levi tacked on two more charity tosses late to give Rhea County a hard earned 52-49 win. The win advances the Lady Eagles to a Monday afternoon game against #2 seed Cumberland County at 3 pm central time. The win runs Rhea County’s record for the season to 22-6.
[shashin type=”photo” id=”1229″ size=”medium” columns=”max” order=”user” caption=”y” position=”right”]
For the game Rhea County hit 22 of 31 free throw attempts and Stone Memorial hit 7 three point baskets versus only one from Levi for Rhea County. Shane Johnston gave credit to the defensive effort down the stretch for the Lady Eagles.
Cookeville 11 12 10 16 49
Rhea County 12 12 10 18 52
Lady Eagles Scoring:
- Kenzie Freeman 2
- Kelsey Miles 8
- Jessee Wallis 8
- Shelby Thurman 4
- Julie Brown 13
- Amber Levi 17
District Tourney Pics
[shashin type=”albumphotos” id=”112″ size=”small” crop=”n” columns=”max” caption=”n” order=”date” position=”center”]
