CLEVELAND, Tenn. — After senior Courtney Gobble hit the first of two free throws with 3.2 seconds remaining and her team up seven points, Walker Valley coach David Tucker called a timeout.
“I wanted her to enjoy it,” Tucker said. “She took an awesome lick — it wasn’t a cheap shot — but I felt like we had it won at that point, so I wanted the girls to stop and smell the roses.”
Gobble had been leveled 19 seconds earlier on a screen by Cleveland’s Q’Schara Brown. She missed only 1.2 second of game time, then came in and got fouled again. It was a fitting ending to a rough-and-tumble physical game, won 56-48 by the state’s fifth-ranked Lady Mustangs.
The win gives Tucker his first-ever district championship at the AAA level, which has consisted of stints at McMinn County and Walker Valley. The Lady Mustangs improved to 23-1, 10-0 in District 5-AAA, while Cleveland fell to 16-7 and 7-2, with both district losses coming to Walker Valley.
The game included 42 fouls and 59 free throws. Each team connected on 19, but the difference was from the field, where the Lady Mustangs held Cleveland to 13 made field goals and created 17 steals.