Oakland girls clinch AAA state tourney berth
SPARTA – Playing in its most hostile gymnasium all season, sixth-ranked Oakland snapped a 10-year drought from playing in the TSSAA Class AAA Girls Basketball State Championships.
The Lady Patriots pulled away from White County in the second half behind the duo of Shelby Gibson and Abby Wright to win 73-58 Monday night in a capacity-filled Roy Sewell Gymnasium in the Class AAA sectionals.
Wright and Gibson combined for 53 points.
The win clinched a berth in the state quarterfinals a year after the Lady Patriots fell to Bradley Central in the same round. Oakland (26-7) plays Bartlett (22-10) at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at MTSU's Murphy Center. Bartlett upset Memphis Overton in its sectional.
"This means the world to me," said Oakland junior Ansley Eubank, who was one of two starters returning from last year. "If we wouldn't have gotten past this step I don't know what I would do next year at all.
"To have this feeling is amazing. We all wanted it, and we got it."
Oakland last reached the state tournament in 2005, when the Lady Patriots reached the state semifinals.
"The journey to get (to state) is a long journey," Oakland coach Jennifer Grandstaff said. "That's what I tried to let our kids know (Sunday) night. To be in a sectional game is an an accomplishment, but don't be satisfied.
"In our district — it's so competitive. It's just a credit to our kids, our coaches and everybody involved. It's a major task to come out of our district and have an opportunity to play in the state tournament."
Oakland will be joined in the state tournament by fellow Murfreesboro rival Blackman, the defending Class AAA state champion.
Gibson, who has several college offers, poured in 24 points and had 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-2 post dominated inside the paint against a Warriorettes squad that featured just one person 6-0 or taller in Alex Lewis.
She didn't miss a shot until the 5:37 mark of the third quarter.
"I just wanted to win this game so bad," Gibson said. "Last year was probably the worst feeling I ever had. As a team, we shot one of the best shooting I've ever seen us shoot."
Wright led all scorers with 29 points, including five of the team's seven 3-pointers. She hit two of her treys in the first 2:53 of the fourth quarter to give the Lady Patriots a 62-44 advantage.
"Shelby and I talked before the game and we decided that we were going to have to work together," said Wright, an Eastern Kentucky signee. "We are both posts. I told her at the beginning of the game that she could dominate inside because they had no size.
"I told her I'm feeling it on the shot. We just had to give it all for our team."
The Oakland duo's production helped offset White County's perimeter shooting. The Warriorettes (29-4) hit 11 3-pointers in the game, including five each from Deandra Luna and Emilee Howard. Howard finished with a team-high 19.
Contact Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 or tkreager@dnj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kreager.
Oakland 73, White Co. 58
Oakland 17 14 23 17 – 73
White Co. 16 8 18 16 – 58
Oakland: Ansley Eubank 2, Paris Lawson 14, Hannah Eaglen 4, Abby Wright 29, Shelby Gibson 24.
White Co.: Shelby Johnson 3, Bella Taylor 6, Deandra Luna 15, Hannah Leftwich 2, Emilee Howard 19, Alex Lewis 13.