ENGLEWOOD, Tenn. — McMinn Central junior point guard Kylie Lambert and her teammates are headed back to where they started their high school basketball careers — the TSSAA Class AA state tournament.
Lambert’s 29 points helped the Chargerettes beat York Institute 66-45 Saturday night at McMinn Central to receive their second state berth in three years.
Top-ranked in the state, the Chargerettes (31-2) advance to the state quarterfinals starting Wednesday night at Middle Tennessee State University. The Dragonettes end their season at 23-8.
“This is our second time and we’ve set some records here at Central, so it’s a big achievement,” Lambert said. “York was tough, but we pulled it out.”
Depth again gave the Chargerettes an advantage, with everyone on the roster playing some.
“From film, we saw that York did a good job of the pass-cut and liked to play the same five people up and down the court,” Chargerettes coach Johnny Morgan said. “We tried to get them tired, and now I don’t know if they got tired, but we got the job done. Kylie took it to the goal real well for us.”
Three consecutive 3-pointers from Lambert and Jaryn Davis put McMinn Central up 14-7 in the first quarter, a lead the Chargerettes never relinquished.
York’s Molly Eacret led the Dragonettes with 13 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter with Katie Bradfield, who scored nine. McMinn Central’s Kelsie McNutt totaled 12 points.
The juniors on the Chargerettes roster went to Murfreesboro as freshmen but are looking forward to returning this week with more experience.
“We definitely feel like we can get the job done,” Lambert said. “I think we were nervous the first time we went because it wasn’t what we expected and we hadn’t heard of the team we played. This time, we’re going with a target on our backs and we’re going to have to step it up.”
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