THE KEY CHAIN: How Middleton girls beat Pickett County
Keys to the Game
- Averale Joy handled the ball in key situations. The senior point guard is Middleton's most reliable ballhandler and made good decisions late. She hit a key 3 in the fourth-quarter rally, but more importantly she made two good passes to Chelsey Perry to preserve the narrow lead.
- Antonia Whatley wasn't intimidated early. She hit three jump shots in the first quarter, keeping Middleton in the game against a Pickett County team that shot the ball excellently most of the game from outside. Many people think teams do better at state after they've been in recent years, but this is the first Murfreesboro trip for these Lady Tigers and they earned a win.
- Chelsey Perry and Dakedra Mason were solid inside, scoring enough and also defending Courtney Pritchett, a capable post player for Pickett County a little bigger than either of them. They weren't pushed around too much, and that was a key factor.
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MUFREESBORO - Middleton girls' basketball has won a state tournament game for the first time since 2010.
The Lady Tigers beat Pickett County 73-68 in Wednesday afternoon's Class A state quarterfinal.
Averyale Joy scored 19 points to lead Middleton (33-0), which will play either Community or South Greene at 1:15 p.m. Friday in Murfreesboro assuming the schedule remains unchanged.
Dakedra Mason scored 16 points, Chelsey Perry 13, Rachelle Parks 11 and Antonia Whatley 11 for Middleton. The senior point guard Joy ran the show late, hitting a 3 and then soon finding Perry for a three-point play and 68-62 lead with 1:16 left.
Middleton shot 53.5 percent on field goal attempts.
The Lady Tigers trailed 50-47 after three quarters.
Middleton's girls took the floor wearing pink warmup shirts with FAULKNER 32 on the back for senior forward Deja Faulkner, a UT Martin signee who suffered a season-ending injury around Christmas.
This was Middleton's first state tournament appearance since 2010.
Stay with JacksonSun.com for full stories and photos from this game.