The Mt. Juliet girls basketball team wanted to make one thing clear after Monday’s sectional win over Brentwood — the Lady Bears aren’t scared of top-ranked Blackman.

“We’re not scared of anybody,” Mt. Juliet senior Raeyana DeGray said. “We know they’ll put up a fight, but we will also. We’ll come in there with our heads high knowing that we can win a state championship. We know we’re capable of it.”

Don’t mistake the confidence for cockiness, though.

The Lady Bears (32-2), making their second straight state tournament appearance, are well aware of what they’ll be up against in Wednesday’s 1:15 p.m Class AAA quarterfinal at MTSU’s Murphy Center.

After all, Mt. Juliet suffered a season-ending 55-46 loss to Blackman in last season’s state semifinals.

Mt. Juliet girls top Brentwood to reach state

“They’ve got five big-time players starting for them and they’ve got great players to come off the bench, too,” Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

The Lady Blaze (29-2), led by junior Connecticut commitment Crystal Dangerfield (15.4 points) and senior MTSU signee Alex Johnson (8.8. rebounds), have strung together 19 straight wins since their last defeat — a 53-44 setback to Mater Dei (Calif.) in the Nike Tournament of Champions final on Dec. 22.

Their six postseason victories, including Monday’s 75-47 sectional win over Cumberland County, have come by an average of 26 points.

“First off, they’ve got a point guard (Dangerfield) that’s going to UConn, they’ve got a girl that’s going to Tennessee (senior MeMe Jackson), and I think maybe their best player is going MTSU (Johnson),” Fryer said. “They’ve got a Division I player at every spot, and it’s rare that you see that.”

Fellow Murfreesboro squad Oakland, along with District 11-AAA and Region 6-AAA champion Dickson County, will also be among the eight-team tournament field on Wednesday.

Oakland (26-7), which suffered a 67-44 loss to Blackman in last week’s Region 4-AAA final, secured its first state tournament appearance in a decade with Monday’s 73-58 sectional win over White County.

Dickson County (32-2), led by junior Vanderbilt commitment Lea Lea Carter (14.9 ppg), will be making its third trip to state under coach Eve Jackson, who is in her final season with the Lady Cougars.

Dickson County will face Bearden (30-4) on Wednesday at 10 a.m. Oakland will square off with Bartlett (22-10) at 11:30 a.m.

Class AA: Westmoreland, Cannon County and M.L. King are the Midstate teams that made it.

Westmoreland (31-6), led by 400-win coach Cherie Abner, is making its third state tournament appearance in Abner’s 18-year career, but it will be the first in Class AA.​

M.L. King (26-6) and Cannon County (24-9) will be among the final eight for a second straight year. Both made quarterfinal exits a season ago.

Westmoreland will face Grainger (27-6) on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. M.L. King will square off with Cannon County at 5:15 p.m.

CLASS A: Pickett County, Community, Houston County and Clarkrange are the Midstate teams that advanced.

Pickett County (23-9), making its first state tournament appearance since 2009, will meet Middleton (32-0) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Community (22-9) will square off with South Greene (29-6) at 6 p.m.

Houston County (34-1), looking to improve upon last year’s quarterfinal exit, will face Clarkrange (29-5) on Thursday at 11 a.m.

Weather: Games are expected to proceed as scheduled, despite weather concerns across the Midstate Wednesday and Thursday.

Tennessee SEcondary School Athletic Association assistant executive director Matthew Gillespie said contingency plans could be in order if there was extreme weather.

“We’ve played (the state tournament) under worse conditions than they’re predicting, but we obviously would caution teams and fans to be safe,” Gillespie said.

Reach Michael Murphy at 259-8018 and on Twitter @Murph_TNsports. ​

GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS

Class AAA

Wednesday

Bearden (30-4) vs. Dickson Co. (32-2), 10 a.m.

Bartlett (22-10) vs. Oakland (27-6), 11:30 a.m.

Blackman (29-2) vs. Mt. Juliet (32-2), 1:15 p.m.

Morristown West (30-5) vs. Arlington (26-9), 2:45 p.m.

Class AA

Thursday

Grainger (27-6) vs. Westmoreland (31-6), 12:30 p.m.

McMinn Central (28-5) vs. Craigmont (27-6), 2:15 p.m.

Westview (23-12) vs. Elizabethton (31-0), 3:45 p.m.

MLK (26-6) vs. Cannon Co. (24-9), 5:15 p.m.

Class A

Wednesday

Middleton (32-0) vs. Pickett Co. (23-9), 4:30 p.m.

Community (22-9) vs. South Greene (29-6), 6 p.m.

Thursday

Decatur Co. Riverside (24-9) vs. Oliver Springs (28-6), 9:30 a.m.

Houston Co. (33-1) vs. Clarkrange (29-55), 11 a.m.​

Friday

AAA semifinals, 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m.

A semifinals, 1:15 p.m., 2:45 p.m.

AA semifinals, 4:30 p.m., 6 p.m.

Saturday

AAA finals, 2 p.m.

A finals, 4:30 p.m.

AA finals, 7 p.m.