ATHENS, Tenn. — The Cleveland Lady Raiders came into Monday’s District 5-AAA basketball championship game against Walker Valley with a specific game plan.
It didn’t work to perfection, but it was good enough.
The Lady Raiders led for only about four minutes of game time, but that included the final 35.7 seconds. They avenged two regular-season losses by defeating the fifth-ranked Lady Mustangs 51-46.
Walker Valley (28-2) will face Cumberland County, a 43-31 winner over Coffee County in District 6-AAA, in a Region 3-AAA quarterfinal Thursday at 6:30, while Cleveland (23-8) will host Coffee County.
“It was like a steppingstone for us,” said Cleveland’s Q’Schara Brown, who scored 19 points. “They beat us twice during the regular season, and after the last time it was like our motivation for the night.
“We never stopped fighting.”
In a wild fourth quarter, the lead changed hands three times and the score was tied at 45 after a Jordan Neuharth 3-point basket for Walker Valley with 52.1 seconds to go.
Brown pulled up for a jump shot and missed, but Cierra Anderson was there for what turned out to be the winning putback.
Walker Valley worked the ball downcourt and, after calling a timeout, had an opportunity on a heady inbounds play in which Laurel Allen threw the ball off the back of Brown and was fouled. Allen hit the first free throw but missed the second. A mad scramble ensued for the ball, and Alli Moreland was ruled out of bounds with 7.4 seconds to go.
Anderson hit two free throws for Cleveland; then after another Walker Valley turnover, Jessica King added two more for the final margin.
“Hey, they’ve got a good team; we’ve got a good team,” Walker Valley coach David Tucker said. “What we’ve done so far is unbelievable. To be 28-2 is unbelievable. I don’t know anything about Cumberland County yet, but I promise you we will by tomorrow.”
The Lady Raiders wanted to attack Walker Valley post Kayla Sewell, who posted a double-double in the last meeting, and although they missed a lot of shots inside early — their first field goal came with less than a minute to go in the first quarter — Sewell got her third foul with 2:06 remaining.
“One thing was that we didn’t feel like we went at her,” Cleveland coach Rachel Moore said. “Her size and her physical style — we didn’t take it at her, so to see her get into foul trouble, it’s what you hope for. We made it an emphasis, but then she goes out and their guards played huge. She was out and they showed other areas that they’re good at.”
The score was tied at halftime and Walker Valley led 34-33 after three quarters. The Lady Mustangs later got a five-point lead, but Cleveland outscored them 18-8 the rest of the way.
Anderson had 14 points and King added 12 for the Lady Raiders. Neuharth had 14 points to lead Walker Valley, while Gobble had 12 and Moreland 11.
“This is what you play 28 regular-season games for,” Moore said. “Hopefully we’ll get some momentum and get on a roll the rest of the way.”