Whitwell’s Halle Ware heads down the court.JASPER, Tenn. — After getting close only to fall just short the previous three seasons, the Whitwell girls’ basketball team used a stifling defense and a dash of Halle Ware’s scoring touch to claim the District 6-A tournament championship Monday.
A blur of waving arms and hands helped the Lady Tigers, the tournament runners-up the last three years, force 13 turnovers and overcome a sluggish start to pull away from Sale Creek 46-30 at Marion County High School.
The teams had scored just one basket each through the first four minutes of the game, but Sale Creek built an eight-point advantage by the opening seconds of the second quarter. But a steal and layup by Ware began a 15-4 Whitwell run that helped regain the lead by halftime. Ware scored six points during that stretch and opened the third quarter with four quick points as the Lady Tigers begin pulling away.
“I think we just had a little bit of championship game jitters,” said Ware, who was named tournament most valuable player after scoring a game-high 23 points. “Any time we are having trouble scoring, I kind of take it on myself to do something to get us going.
“It feels great to finally win it after we had been so close.”