The Christian Academy of Knoxville's Warriors held off Notre Dame's Lady Irish in a Division II-A postseason elimination game Monday night, 42-39.
Energy was high in the gym as both teams made their way to the floor, as the crowd knew that this game was a "win or go home" situation.
Notre Dame sophomore Kenzie Campbell cruised in for an easy layup to give the home team the first lead, but that would be the easiest basket she got all night.
The Warriors quickly responded with a 16-1 run, burying the Lady Irish in a 13-point hole they wanted to climb out of quickly. They just couldn't get shots to fall in the opening frame.
"We knew coming into it that there was a chance that one team could take off early. Shots didn't fall for us and [CAK] was on fire, so we dug ourselves a pretty good hole," Notre Dame coach Jason Hill said. "During one of our timeouts we just talked about the length of the basketball game. You don't have a 13-point play - you've just got to take it one play at a time."
After finding themselves down 18-9 after the first quarter, the Fighting Irish climbed their way back into the competition in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 12-6.
"Both teams were nervous, but we just had to play as one," Campbell said. "[Coach] told us that defense wins games. Even if we aren't going to get our shots to fall on offense, play great defense because good things come to those who play good defense. That's what our main focus was."
Going into halftime, the score was 22-21 in favor of the Warriors. The contest was neck and neck after that, as the largest lead was only five points the rest of the game.
Late in the final quarter Campbell was able to tie the game at 36 on a layup-and-one, but the Lady Irish (20-10) were unable to take over the game and watched their season come to an end.
"It hurts to end it this early. I think we were set up in a pretty good position to advance to the regional semifinals," Hill reflected. "It hurts that we ended it tonight with the opportunity that was in front of us."
Campbell scored a game-high 21 points. Hannah Carroll and Emily Wilson had 19 and 15 for CAK.
Contact Jason McDaniel at sports@timesfreepress.com.