EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - Ninth-ranked East Hamilton will get a fourth shot at trying to beat No. 2-ranked Bradley Central. Both girls' basketball teams won their semifinals Monday in the Region 3-AAA high school tournament at Rhea County.
East Hamilton was involved in a struggle with Stone Memorial but ultimately prevailed 67-62. Before that, the Bearettes got off to a good start and essentially cruised past Rhea County, 74-43.
Wednesday's championship game at Rhea County is set for 7 p.m. East Hamilton is 26-5 with three of its losses to Bradley (30-0).
» East Hamilton 67, Stone Memorial 62: The Lady Hurricanes also got off to a good start, scoring 12 of their game's first 14 points. They led 22-9 after De'Zah Lacy made a basket in close to start the second-quarter scoring, but they wound up trailing by two at halftime.
The Lady Panthers' 29-point second quarter - the most allowed in a quarter by the Lady 'Canes all season - included five 3-point goals and got things turned around.
"We only played seven in a physical game that was up-and-down," East Hamilton coach Hunter Gremore said. "The first quarter we played outstanding. The second quarter I think we got really tired and they didn't miss. They hit five or six 3s. They have a really good team."
After Emma Capps scored inside with 3:27 to go in the third quarter, East Hamilton suddenly began looking like a totally different defensive team. It benefited from the Lady Panthers missing a few open shots, but Stone (22-8) did not have another field goal until Mattie Buck connected on a 3 from out front with 2:12 to play.
"At the start of the third quarter they did some things to take a seven-, eight-point lead," Gremore said. "During a timeout I reminded them, 'We're a defensive team. We've got to get back to playing defense and chip away at this thing.'"
An 11-0 run bridging the third and fourth quarters got the lead back for the Lady 'Canes, and they kept it by making 11 of 14 free throws in the final 2:45 - including making their last nine.
Madison Hayes led East Hamilton with 27 points, making 13 of 15 free throws. Kaiyana Suttles contributed 13 points and Lacy finished with nine.
Rhea County warms up for its basketball game Monday against Bradley Central. The Lady Eagles hosted the TSSAA Region 3-AAA girls' semifinals in their new gymnasium. » Bradley Central 74, Rhea County 43: The Bearettes got off to a 19-4 start and ended up leading 43-17 at halftime. The Lady Eagles then outscored Bradley in the third quarter - 16-15 - but that hardly made a dent in the deficit.
"I couldn't ask for any more than the way we started," Bradley coach Jason Reuter said. "The second quarter we even increased it to 26, but Rhea County didn't quit. We knew we had a size advantage. I thought we did a pretty good job defending them. I know they hit some 3s, especially in the second half, but I don't believe they were able to get too much off the dribble drive like they've done against some other teams."
Rhyne Howard paced the Bearettes with 25 points - 19 coming before halftime. Jamaryn Blair added 14 off the bench. Anna Walker totaled 10 and Kaleigh Hughes chipped in with nine.
The margin was the largest in a loss for Rhea (25-7) this season.
"I kind of have to remind myself that we start a freshman and three sophomores," Rhea coach Darvin Gill said. "All this is still very new to them."
Haley Cameron and Mallory Hampton had 12 points apiece for the Lady Eagles. Micah Black played despite dealing with a kidney stone and scored 11.
"That's the kind of senior she's been for our program," Gill said, noting Caity Blevins and Ashton Cameron are the other seniors. "They've put in a lot of work that we're hoping is the groundwork for the Lady Eagles program moving forward."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him on Twitter @KelleySmiddie.