Lady Eagles win 7-AA; Notre Dame boys repeat

Basketball hoop background
Basketball hoop background

DUNLAP, Tenn. - Signal Mountain's girls exacted a little bit of payback Saturday, and they did it in a big way.

Bledsoe County had defeated the Lady Eagles twice during the District 7-AA high school basketball regular season - by a total of three points. But with both teams finishing with 8-2 district records, those victories enabled the Lady Warriors to be the top-seeded team in the postseason tournament at Sequatchie County.

The No. 2-seeded Lady Eagles looked motivated from the start Saturday and went on to defeat Bledsoe 41-21 in the tournament's championship game.

The No. 6-seeded Notre Dame boys followed their win over top-seeded Chattanooga Christian in a semifinal by defeating second-seeded Sequatchie County 63-48 in the final.

All four finalists will be at home in the first round of the Region 4 tournament Friday. Signal Mountain's girls (24-5) will play Macon County, and Bledsoe (17-13) will play Upperman. Those were the top-seeded teams in the District 8 tournament, but both got upset in the semifinals.

Notre Dame's boys (9-18) will host Livingston Academy on Saturday, and Sequatchie (18-9) hosts Murfreesboro Central Magnet.

Chattanooga Christian (25-3) won the boys' consolation 78-48 over Bledsoe County and will play Saturday at Upperman. Bledsoe (15-14) plays at Macon County.

CCS (15-14) won the third-place girls' game 52-51 over Notre Dame and will play at Smith County on Friday. Notre Dame (9-16) will play at Livingston Academy.

Bledsoe's girls beat Signal Mountain 45-44 at Bledsoe and won 49-47 at Signal Mountain during the regular season.

"I said if we're going to have to lose, I'd rather lose in the regular season," Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell said. "It's hard beating up on each other all through the year."

Signal Mountain scored the first nine points and led by 15 late in the first half. Trinity Brown scored the Lady Warriors' first point - their only point in the first quarter - and with 4-of-6 free-throw shooting was the only Bledsoe player to score until Lynnsey Keener made a basket underneath with 1:47 to go before halftime.

The Lady Eagles' 2-3 zone and their methodical approach on offense were key factors in the game.

"We're a pressing team, but I'm not crazy," Bell said. "We just talked about covering their high post. That's hurt us in the past. We gave up 21 points. The kids did a great job of executing what we asked them to do defensively."

Bledsoe got a 3-pointer from the right wing at the halftime buzzer by Whitney Brown, then scored the first six points of the second half to get within 21-15. But a 9-0 run that included a four-point play by tournament MVP Mary Witherspoon put the Lady Eagles right back in charge.

Signal Mountain's Brooke Whitmire was the game's only double-figure scorer with 11 points.

Notre Dame's boys never trailed in their game, which they began with a 26-point first quarter. Their largest lead was 47-27 after Kelby McGowan's layup at 5:25 of the third quarter.

The district title was the second consecutive for the Fighting Irish. But considering the players they graduated from last season's team, and that they were 3-7 in the district regular season and seeded sixth in the tournament, this one was more of a surprise to those outside the Notre Dame camp.

"Our scheduled was incredibly strong," Notre Dame coach J.P. Nerbun said. "They went through it. All that made us stronger. You saw that out here this week."

Tournament MVP Peter Berce led the Irish in the final, getting all of his points on six 3-pointers. Four were in the first quarter.

C.J. Greer added 12 points and McGowan totaled 11.

Noah Bartley's 23 points topped the Indians.

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

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