Senior Maddie Wright scores 30, but Boyd-Buchanan's season ends

Assorted Sports Equipment on Black
Assorted Sports Equipment on Black

Maddie Wright was the last Boyd-Buchanan player to exit the Lady Buccaneers' locker room Saturday night.

She arrived on the court to a throng of fans and family members. It's the last time she'll climb those stairs.

Pickett County dismissed Boyd-Buchanan 66-50 in a Class A sectional at Boyd-Buchanan.

"You can't win them all," said Wright, who will continue her career at Belmont University. "They're a great team with great defense and great offense."

Wright led the Lady Bucs with 30 points, and Marissa McCalla added 11. Tristan McClennan led the Lady Bobcats (29-2) with 21 points, Courtney Pritchett scored 18, Abbi Buck tallied 11 and Jayna Ferrall added 10.

The Lady Bobcats, who reside in a county with about 5,000 residents along the Kentucky border, will return to the Class A state tournament for a second straight year.

"Last year, we were happy to be there," Pickett County coach Brent Smith said. "This year we'll be disappointed if we don't win it."

The Lady Bucs (22-7) fought the Lady Bobcats better than most opponents this season. Pickett County defeated previous playoff opponents by scores of 61-20, 51-38 and 90-51. Due to TSSAA sanctions they had to play on the road throughout the playoffs.

"This game in our gym is a different story," Smith said. "This is a different environment."

The Lady Bobcats were set to continue blowing out opponents when they led 15-5 after the opening three minutes. Lady Bucs coach Tracy Walker called for time, and her team eventually settled in despite trailing 20-12 at the end of the first quarter.

When Wright scored a putback with 1:44 to go in the first half, the Lady Bucs were down just four. They went into halftime trailing 33-27.

"Our composure showed," Walker said. "We lost (82-36 at Clarkrange) in this stage last year. This group wasn't going to be rattled."

Smith adjusted his defense and Boyd-Buchanan started the second half with turnovers on five of its first six possessions. The Lady Bucs trailed 45-30 midway through the quarter, fell behind by 16 on two occasions and were down 53-39 heading to the final stanza - of the game and of the season.

"We did everything right tonight," McCalla said. "They were winning games by 50 points. If we had one more quarter I think we would have pulled it out."

The senior class that played its final high school game Saturday won a single game during the players' eighth-grade year and six their freshman season. The last two years they've come within one game of playing in the state tournament.

"They will leave a mark," Walker said. "I hope we're building a program here and didn't just have a good team."

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Van Buren County 41, Jackson County 31

At Spencer, the Eaglettes earned a spot in the Class A state tournament as Lakelyn Bouldin had 23 points and 10 rebounds and Tilly Dodson scored 11 points. Van Buren (28-4) led 12-3 after one quarter but only 14-11 at halftime, and Jackson County took a 23-22 lead into the final period. McKenzie Flynn scored 12 points for the visitors.

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP

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