Baylor three-peats as girls' champ, Clemons as MVP

Tournament MVP Kaleigh Clemons prepares to take a shot while dodging Meigs County's Megan Lewis during Baylor's 44-29 championship win Monday in the Times Free Press Best of Preps basketball tournament at Chattanooga State Community College.
Tournament MVP Kaleigh Clemons prepares to take a shot while dodging Meigs County's Megan Lewis during Baylor's 44-29 championship win Monday in the Times Free Press Best of Preps basketball tournament at Chattanooga State Community College.
photo Tournament MVP Kaleigh Clemons prepares to take a shot while dodging Meigs County's Megan Lewis during Baylor's 44-29 championship win Monday in the Times Free Press Best of Preps basketball tournament at Chattanooga State Community College.

Baylor seemed to have a few advantages over Meigs County coming into the girls' championship game of the Times Free Press Best of Preps basketball tournament at Chattanooga State. But what things could the Lady Red Raiders take the most advantage of?

To Meigs County coach Jason Powell, it probably seemed like everything. But perhaps the most telling area was Baylor's 19-6 edge in 2-point field goals on the way to a 44-29 victory.

For Baylor (10-1), which beat the Lady Tigers 54-31 in a tournament earlier in the season, this was its third consecutive Best of Preps title. Junior point guard Kaleigh Clemons has been selected most valuable player each time.

"Every game is contested," Baylor coach John Gibson said of the tournament. "It's a huge atmosphere. You saw how full the gym was. All eyes are on you. It's not easy to win."

The tournament may not be easy to win, but the opportunity is made easier by having a player like Clemons. Her value handling the ball and passing it made her contributions far more weighty than the 35 points she totaled in three games -- 10 in the final.

"I'd rather have my teammates involved than to try and do it myself," Clemons said. "I can't win a game by myself. Us being a team and playing together is what makes us good. We're more mature now than we've ever been."

Perhaps it's because Clemons is more mature than she's ever been.

"She still has her moments, but she's getting better and better at running a team and taking what's there," said Gibson, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga point guard. "If she has a difficult decision and doesn't make the right one, she'll come over to me and tell me what she did wrong. That's better than me barking at her. She's starting to figure it out."

Abby Hubert led the Lady Raiders in the final with 12 points. She and Mya Long, Selena Popp and Jazmin Simpkins were instrumental in the decided scoring edge in the post area.

"I thought we could've done better on the boards," said Powell, whose team fell to 11-5 in having its seven-game winning streak snapped. "They hurt us with their transition defense, too. It's hard for us to simulate that."

The coach also acknowledged the problems Clemons caused.

"We don't play a lot of teams with that kind of a point guard that can do the things Clemons can," Powell said. "She's a special player."

Taylor Boggess and Alyson Crowder each scored 13 points for the Lady Tigers, whose only lead in the title game was 2-0. Boggess finished as the tournament's leading scorer with 66 points.

Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.

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