Feb. 17—GALLATIN — After taking a first-quarter lead Thursday night, Mt. Juliet’s offense went dry and host Gallatin came back and pulled away to a 43-25 triumph in the District 12-4A tournament play-in game at Jerry Vradenburg Gym/Bobby Luna Court.
The Lady Bears led almost the entire first quarter, going on an 8-0 run and going in front 12-5 after eight minutes.
But Gallatin took the second period 9-3 to slash Mt. Juliet’s lead to 15-14 by halftime and then dominated the third 20-6 for a 34-21 advantage as the Lady Wave bought three more games, starting with today’s semifinal against top-seeded Beech and ending with the Region 6-4A tournament next week, with a 7-17 record.
Mt. Juliet is finished for the season at 7-21.
Delany Whited drained a pair of third-quarter 3-pointers as she and Asia Sawyers, who had six points in the second period, each led the Lady Wave with 14 points apiece.
Makayla Hopson led the Lady Bears with nine points while Claire Emery scored six, McClaine Ringenberg and Sara Valencia three each and Unity Jordan two.
In the other bracket, Green Hill will swing into action in today’s other semifinal as the No. 2-seed Lady Hawks take on No. 3 Hendersonville at 6 p.m. Both have already clinched region berths. District championship and consolation contests will be held Monday.
Watertown falls into 5-2A consolation contest
GAINESBORO — Watertown fell into the District 5-2A consolation contest following a 56-27 loss to Smith County in the league semifinals Thursday night at Jackson County.
The No. 3-seeded Lady Purple Tigers, assured of a winning season at 14-11, will face host (and No. 4 seed) Jackson County at 6 p.m. Monday in the consolation game and open Region 3-2A action on the road next Friday.
The Lady Owls, who will take on top-seeded York Institute in Monday’s championship game and host a first-round region contest next Friday, led 21-7 at the first-quarter break and 38-11 at halftime.
Chloe Collins connected on four 3-pointers to lead the Lady Owls with 15 points while Airyn Enoch threw in 13.
Macie Brejle scored six points to lead the Lady Purple Tigers while Mallory Race and Julieanna Pruitt each finished with five, Izzie Burns four, Molly Followill a 3-pointer, Kierah Maklary two and Miranda Nix and Larkin Cherry a free throw apiece.
On the boys’ side, Watertown was ousted by Monterey 60-46 in the play-in game Tuesday as the No. 4-seed Purple Tigers finished a 6-21 season.
Lady Wildcats roar into regional
LAVERGNE — Wilson Central’s resurgence continued Wednesday night as the Lady Wildcats punched their ticket to the Region 4-4A tournament with a District 7-4A first-round elimination of Smyrna.
The Lady Wildcats jumped to a 21-2 first-quarter lead and were ahead 37-9 at halftime as they booked three more games, including the regional, with an 18-11 record.
Wilson Central, which hasn’t won this many games since current Watertown coach Jeff Keller’s first WCHS team took 20 victories in 2017-18, faced top-seed Cookeville last night and will play for either third place at 6 p.m. or the championship at 7:30 Monday, also at LaVergne, against either Lebanon or Stewarts Creek.
Alli McCullough, Wilson Central’s lone senior, led the Lady Wildcats with 12 points, sinking 6 of 7 free throws and two 3-pointers. Brylee Fly fired in 7 of 10 from the line on her way to 11 points to go with eight rebounds and four steals. Kylee Moss also hit two triples on her way to 10 points. Jadyn Cooper also collected eight rebounds as she and Ellie Ramsey scored six points apiece while Rita Planella, Brooklyn Evert and Abbi Siemer each finished with four, Jordan Sasmore two and Caylie Goodard a free throw.
