MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Several small scoring runs, at least one of 6-0 in all four quarters, added up to an insurmountable advantage for South Greene and eventually a 73-53 victory over Polk County in the Class AA girls’ state tournament quarterfinals at Murphy Center.
The Lady Rebels, who lost in the semifinals of last year’s state tournament, looked more comfortable in the surroundings of Middle Tennessee State University’s Murphy Center, making 68-percent of its second-half field goals and shooting 57-percent for the game.
“I can’t explain it, but we really shot the ball well in the second half and that put us over the top,” South Greene coach Derek Dyer said.
The Lady Rebels, who are making the 26th state tournament appearance in program history, will play Gibson County Friday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals. Gibson County, which blasted Christ Presbyterian Academy 55-35 in an earlier quarterfinal, is led by Miss Basketball finalist Heather Butler, a 2,000-point career scorer who had 33 points in Wednesday’s win.
TSSAA Class AA girls’ semifinalSOUTH GREENE 73, POLK COUNTY 53South Greene 16 19 24 14 — 73Polk County 15 12 22 4 — 53South Greene (73) — Dye 5, Ansley Ricker 17, Maelyn Cutshaw 16, Brandi Crum 21, Hicks 6, Renner 2, Tweed 6, Shaw, Johnson, Wilhoit, Waddell, Shipley, Donahue, Jones.Polk County (53) — Alex Rogers 16, Wilson 3, Qualls 3, Hollie German 24, Yowarsky 7, Richmond, Wilson, Silvers, Miles, Webb, Haynes, Greer, Goodwin.3-point goals: South Greene 6 (Ricker 2, Crum 2, Dye, Tweed); Polk County 7 (German 3, Rogers 2, Wilson, Qualls). Records: South Greene 26-6; Polk County 28-6.
The most damaging of the scoring runs came late in the third quarter when nine unanswered points extended the lead to a 16. Polk County never got closer than nine after that point.
“They put a lot of pressure on us because they just kept making shots and eventually we couldn’t keep answering,” said Wildkittens senior guard Hollie German, who led all scorers with 24 points.
South Greene (26-6) used a 6-0 run to end the first quarter to take the lead, then expanded it just before halftime with five consecutive points. Ansley Ricker’s 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the third gave South Greene its first double-digit lead.
Polk County (28-6), which was making their first state tournament appearance in 26 years, had made 17 of 19 free throws in its sectional win, but shot just 14 of 29 Wednesday.
“We may have stayed with them if we could make our free throws,” said Polk County coach Ron Davis, who coached his final game at his alma mater after 34 years. “But once they widened the gap, they just had too many shooters to get it back.”