The Whitwell High School girls’ basketball team may not have strength in numbers, but the Lady Tigers have produced a memorable run on the hardwood once again.
Solid leadership has been in place for a varsity roster of just nine players who have helped Whitwell lock in a second straight Class 1A sectional appearance with Monday’s 56-29 Region 3-1A semifinal victory over host Sale Creek.
“Courtney (Zensen) and Addie’s (Colvard) leadership has been really huge for this team,” Lady Tigers head coach Eric Zensen said. “They have played ball for a while. Courtney is over 2,000 career points and Addie is over 1,500. We have been shorthanded, but our team has worked together all season. Our younger girls have done a tremendous job stepping up too.”
Van Buren County (21-8) beat Copper Basin, 68-42, in the other 3-1A semifinal matchup and will take on Whitwell in the region finals at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Sale Creek.
Whitwell’s full court press set the tone early as Zensen’s fourth steal turned into one of her three 3-pointers for an 11-0 lead with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
Sophomore forward Elle Grace Harvey was solid down low early for the Lady Tigers (23-11) with three baskets in the paint. Zensen’s 25-footer off the left wing with 2:22 before halftime increased the lead to 33-6, and she went on to finish with a game-high 28 points to go with six steals and four assists.
Colvard finished with nine points in the victory.
“Our girls really wanted to get back to the state sectional game to have a shot to get to the state tournament,” coach Zensen said. “They have accomplished a lot this season. I would love to see these girls go out and rebound the ball well against Van Buren. They are really strong inside and we will have to bring it.”
Sale Creek (20-11) finished its first 20-win season since 2013 despite having eight eighth graders and four underclassmen who start along with senior all-district starter Kya Escobar.
“I thought it would take some time coming in here to get going,” first-year Lady Panthers coach Brian Kusnerick said. “But we won the district and this program could take off if we keep working. These girls bought in and we had great leadership from our two senior captains. We could not have done this without them and I am so proud of them.”
Sophomore guard Trinity Smith finished with a team-high 16 points for Sale Creek, who had a stellar season despite losing 80 percent of the team’s rebounding from last season.
REGION 3-3A SEMIFINALS
Soddy-Daisy 44, Fulton 26: The Lady Trojans saved their best for last as they broke things open by outscoring the Lady Falcons 19-4 in the fourth quarter. Melody Crawley made three 3-pointers, while Alivia Hall and Candyce Yother combined for 10 points in the final frame. Sophomore Hannah Patterson finished with a team-high 12 points for Soddy-Daisy (22-11).
Signal Mountain 51, Lenoir City 39: The Lady Eagles advanced to the region title game thanks to a strong second half in which they outscored Lenoir City 30-20. Carlee Lowry led Signal Mountain with 22 points and Cassidy Pawson added 15, including a pair of 3-pointers.
REGION 3-4A
Bradley Central 61, Warren County 53: The second-ranked Bearettes built a 16 point first-half lead but had to hold off a late rally to set up Wednesday’s region title showdown at home against rival Cleveland. Kimora Fields led Bradley with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Harmonie Ware added 15 points and four assists and Avary Brewer 12 points.
Cleveland 50, Coffee County 37: A 24-15 fourth quarter helped the Lady Blue Raiders pull away to advance to the region title game. Lauren Hurst led Cleveland with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Paige Moody also had 15 points and Tyria Tanner 14.
REGION 2-2A SEMIFINALS
Meigs County 53, Polk County 48
McMinn Central 82, Kingston 50