Flippen leads Westview back to state

MARTIN – When the big games come around, the seniors on the team are the ones looked to for leadership and strong play in crunch time.

The Westview girls' basketball team has had to look her way over the last week to reach sectionals.

Dianna Flippen's leadership continued on Monday in a Class AA sectional with a double-double to lead the Lady Chargers to the 40-32 win over Haywood.

"Words cannot describe the feeling of getting back to state," Flippen said. "It is hard to explain.

"I knew I had to get the ball and score inside."

Westview (23-12) advances to the Class AA state tournament on Thursday. The Lady Chargers open against defending state champion Elizabethton at 3:45 p.m.

Flippen and freshman Tasia Jones scored 14 points to lead the Lady Chargers.

With her team struggling to score in the second period, Flippen was the one that played her role in the post with consecutive lay-ups in the first half of the quarter to give the Lady Chargers a 14-6 lead.

"She has been great the last two weeks," Westview coach Brian Haskins said. "They went small at times, and Dianna did a good job finishing against the smaller lineup."

Those were Westview's only field goals of the second quarter.

The Lady Chargers' defense continued to dominate on the other end of the floor to keep Westview ahead.

"We did a good job sitting down in front of them and making them take jumps shots," Haskins said. "When they did shoot, we did a good job rebounding."

The last four opponents have combined to score 112 points on the Lady Chargers.

"Our defense has been our strong point," Flippin said. "We connect really well.

Flippen continued to be the lone Westview player that could score in the first four minutes of the second half, but her six points kept the Lady Chargers up six 22-16.

But Haywood made a run as Madison Smith, Alecia Johnson and Idalias Flagg scored to cut Westview's lead to three points.

The Lady Tomcats went on another 6-0 run late in the fourth quarter — all points coming from freshman Jamirah Shutes — to cut Westview's lead to one point (33-32) with 3:11 to play.

But Westview hit eight of eight free throws, and Flippin took a charge to end Haywood's rally.

This is the third consecutive year that Westview has reached the state tournament.

Shutes led Haywood with 18 points.

Michael Odom, 425-9754