Advertisement

Senior night proves special

HENDERSONVILLE – Senior night proved to be just that for Hendersonville High’s girls basketball team.

Hendersonville High junior guard Peyton Sheehan elevates to shoot a jump shot in the lane against Beech sophomore Kennedy Powell (11) and Destiny Tinker during first-quarter action. Sheehan scored eight points.

Hendersonville High junior guard Peyton Sheehan elevates to shoot a jump shot in the lane against Beech sophomore Kennedy Powell (11) and Destiny Tinker during first-quarter action. Sheehan scored eight points.

Three Lady Commando seniors combined for 27 points to lead Hendersonville to a 58-40 victory over visiting Beech on Friday evening in the final regular-season contest for both teams.

Point guard Carleigh Short was one of the trio participating in their final regular-season home game, scoring nine of her 14 points in the third quarter as Hendersonville (17-8 overall, 10-4 in District 9-AAA) outscored Beech by a 17-6 margin in the period. The run turned the Lady Commandos’ 29-26 lead at halftime into a 46-32 advantage entering the fourth quarter.

It also happened to be Short’s birthday.

“That third quarter was really good for us,” Short said. “It’s definitely a good, cross-town rivalry. We’re always going to be pumped up for the game, and with it being senior night, we just wanted it a little bit more.”

Each team had an injured senior start the contest with a layin. Beech’s Lexi Cook scored an uncontested basket, and then, Hendersonville’s Elizabeth Burns scored an open bucket of her own before both players exited the game. It was a move both coaches had agreed upon prior to the game.

Beech High junior McCall Decker dribbles into the frontcourt against Hendersonville junior Makensie Cotter during second-quarter action. Decker scored three points.

Beech High junior McCall Decker dribbles into the frontcourt against Hendersonville junior Makensie Cotter during second-quarter action. Decker scored three points.

“We were glad to oblige,” Lady Buccaneer interim head coach Troy Carnes said. “It was really a great opportunity to do a good thing for both girls.”

Hendersonville head coach Drew Johnson added, “One of the really good things about it was Coach Carnes was very nice about allowing us to do that. It even worked better for them, because they weren’t able to do that for (Cook) when they had senior night at their place. It’s one of those things that’s really unfortunate that those kids had to go through (those injuries) and watch their teammates play all year long, but it’s great to honor them on senior night.”

Burns tore the anterior-cruciate ligament (ACL) in her knee during soccer season, while Cook tore her ACL one day before practice officially began in the fall.

“I was kind of nervous, because it’s a lot of pressure I guess,” Burns said. “It would be really embarrassing if I missed (the shot). It was definitely a relief when I saw it go in. It was really neat, because we’ve had a lot of ACL tears in the district. So, it was really cool that both teams had someone that could do it.”

After that, the Lady Commandos began a barrage of 3-pointers, connecting on 12 of them. Sophomore guard Brooke Long hit four, leading to her game-high 16 points, and senior forward Joslyn Jarrett connected on two in the first quarter, although Beech kept things close throughout the first half.

Hendersonville High senior forward Elizabeth Burns shoots an interior shot during first-quarter action. Burns – who scored two points – started the game on senior night after missing the entire season prior to Friday with a knee injury.

Hendersonville High senior forward Elizabeth Burns shoots an interior shot during first-quarter action. Burns – who scored two points – started the game on senior night after missing the entire season prior to Friday with a knee injury.

“I made one, and it just got the whole team going,” Jarrett said. “We just started hitting.”

Carnes added, “They shot it well the whole game. I don’t know what (Hendersonville’s) percentage was, but it had to be good.”

Beech sophomore Savannah Jarratt ended the half with a turnaround jump shot that fell in the basket as time expired, with the Lady Bucs cutting the Hendersonville lead to three points at the intermission.

“That was maybe the high point of the game really,” Carnes said. “I thought we battled really well in the first half.”

Senior guard Deja Smith led the Lady Bucs (9-19, 5-9) with 13 points.

Hendersonville won the first meeting at Beech by a 45-39 margin on Jan. 19.

Beech High freshman forward Kendra Mueller drives to the basket during second-quarter action. Mueller scored two points.

Beech High freshman forward Kendra Mueller drives to the basket during second-quarter action. Mueller scored two points.

Hendersonville and Mt. Juliet finished the season with identical 10-4 records in district play, and they split the head-to-head meetings. A coin flip at the district meeting on Monday will determine the No. 2 seed in the District 9-AAA Tournament. That team faces seventh-seeded Station Camp on Wednesday at 8 p.m., while the third-seeded team faces Beech at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Reach Chris Brooks atcbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118.

BEECH (40) – Deja Smith 13, Reese Taylor 6, Joslyn Brinkley 5, Savannah Jarratt 4, McCall Decker 3, Kennedy Powell 3, Lexi Cook 2, Kendra Mueller 2, Destiny Tinker 2.

HENDERSONVILLE (58) – Brooke Long 16, Carleigh Short 14, Joslyn Jarrett 11, Peyton Sheehan 8, Makensie Cotter 3, Makenzie Branch 2, Elizabeth Burns 2, Morgan Wettengel 2.

Half: 29-26, Hendersonville. Three-point goals: Beech 7 (Smith 2, Taylor 2, Brinkley 1, Decker 1, Powell 1), Hendersonville 12 (Long 4, Jarrett 3, Sheehan 2, Short 2, Cotter 1). Records: Beech 9-19 overall, 5-9 in District 9-AAA; Hendersonville 17-8, 10-4.

More News