Jan. 21—MT. JULIET — Mt. Juliet and host Green Hill were battling tooth and nail through the early moments of last Friday’s game on the Hill.
But with the Lady Bears leading by a point, Green Hill went on a 22-0 run as Mt. Juliet failed to score for more than a quarter. The Lady Hawks went on to a 56-39 thumping of their city rivals in a District 12-4A matchup.
Aaliyah Holman’s corner jumper following a steal put Mt. Juliet up 26-25 30 seconds into the second half.
Willa Heilman’s layup on the other end put Green Hill back in front. Before Mt. Juliet could score again, the Lady Hawks were ahead 47-26 early in the fourth quarter. Freshman post Kataira (KT) Tolbert tossed in 12 of her game-high 18 points during the third quarter for GH.
Green Hill also had a nice run to start the game, scoring the first six points of the contest. But the Lady Bears battled back and trailed 10-9 at the first-quarter break.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair which featured two 3-pointers apiece by Holman and Sara Valencia but ended with Green Hill ahead 25-24 at halftime.
“Our philosophy is we knew if we made it a halfcourt game for them offensively, that’s more in our wheelhouse, how we play,” first-year Lady Hawks coach Cody King said. “They’re more of an up-and-down team. We just try to make it more halfcourt and feed the post. And you saw KT and Julia (Varpness) and Willa. We had a size advantage so we went inside.”
“This is a game built on two different types of teams,” Mt. Juliet coach Jeremy Hawks said. “They’re big and strong and we’re kind of smaller but quicker.
“They made some adjustments at halftime obviously and they came out strong in that third quarter. We got hit in the mouth and just folded, just kind of quit. It was disheartening to watch. But we’re young and we’re working through some things and we’re hoping we believe this is a good learning experience and hopefully we’ll bounce back and see what happens next week.”
Sullie Gerik tossed in 10 points for Green Hill while Heilman had nine, Alyssa Potier eight, McKinlee Stone six and Varpness five as the Lady Hawks improved to 11-8 for the season and 2-0 in district play.
“That was a lot of fun,” King said of his introduction to the crosstown rivalry. “I had heard about it. It was good to see a packed house out here.”
Holman led the Lady Bears with 12 points while Valencia threw in three first-half triples for her nine. Claire Emery connected on 5 of 6 free throws on her way to seven as Mt. Juliet, coming off a district-opening win over Gallatin the previous Tuesday, fell to 8-10, 1-1. Mt. Juliet hosted Hendersonville last night while Green Hill entertained Beech. The Lady Hawks will go to Gallatin at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lady Bears will have their district bye Friday before returning to action at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Beech.
Devilettes dominate in weekend winsLebanon breezed to a pair of easy victories last weekend at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.
First, last Friday, the Devilettes dominated LaVergne 61-25 in District 7-4A action before whipping Class 1A power Wayne County less than 24 hours later 68-28 in the Kay Maynard Showcase.
Lebanon led LaVergne 31-2 in the first quarter and 45-7 at halftime.
Tiara Spencer sank four 3-pointers in leading Lebanon with 14 points and eight deflections while Tramaria Neal notched 11 points. Ellie Beth McDonald dropped in eight points while Naleiya Withrow-Walker scored seven, Keeli Davis six; Graelynn Scharmahorn, Samia Payne, Ashaunna Rowe and Maggie Kelley three each, Ro Dowell two and Kiah Seay a free throw.
Lebanon jumped to a 21-8 first-quarter lead over Wayne County, which is ranked second in this week’s Tennessee Sports Writers Association 1A poll (taking the place of the Associated Press poll) and took it to 38-17 at halftime. Spencer threw in three triples in leading Lebanon with 13 points, four assists and three steals while Withrow-Walker added 11 points, four assists and three steals. Payne and McDonald each added eight points, Davis and Kelley six apiece, Neal five, Dowell four, Caroline Coffee a 3 and Rowe and Seay two apiece. Lebanon traveled to Smyrna last night and will go to Cookeville at 6 p.m. Friday.
Rough weekend for Lady ‘CatsWilson Central took on two strong opponents over the weekend and twice got roughed up.
The Lady Wildcats went to Cookeville on Friday for a District 7-4A encounter and went down 77-52.The following day, they were at Lebanon’s Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court for the annual Kay Maynard Showcase and went down to Division II power Webb School 64-45.
Cookeville led 18-7 at the first-quarter break, 35-20 at halftime and 59-40 going into the fourth as Central slipped to 1-1 in district play.
Allie Gillies hit four of Cookeville’s 12 3-pointers as she led the Lady Cavaliers with 17 points while Cara Lee Gilbert’s 15 included two triples. Callie Reeder tossed in 12 points.
Brooklyn Evert fired in four triples for Central as she led all scorers with 20 points while Eliana Ramsey knocked down 9 of 10 free throws and a triple for 12 points to go with 10 rebounds. Kylie Moss managed nine points, Brylee Fly eight, Callie Turner two foul shots and Alexis Jackson one.
Webb held a 13-11 first-quarter edge before a 16-7 second send the Feet into halftime ahead 29-18. It was 48-33 going into the fourth.
Evert had another big game less than 24 hours after her previous one, throwing in three triples on her way to 22 points. Ramsey racked up eight points while Fly finished with seven to go with six assists. Olivia Kinning collected nine rebounds as she and Moss each finished with four points.
Wilson Central went to Stewarts Creek last night and will host Smyrna at 6 p.m. Friday.
Lady Tigers trounce Monterey
WATERTOWN — After a run of tough games, Watertown got to enjoy a breather last Friday as the Lady Purple Tigers trounced District 5-2A opponent Monterey 61-19.
The Lady Tigers led 19-3 at the first-quarter break and 40-6 at halftime.
Dailey Hight hit three 3-pointers as she led the Lady Tigers with 19 points while Macie Brelje threw in 3. Molly Followill finished with nine points, Maggie Pearson eight, Julianna Pruitt four, Larkin Cherry and Izzie Burns three each and Kailynn Templeton two.
Watertown traveled to Westmoreland last night and will return to district action at 6 p.m. Friday at Jackson County.
