HIGH SCHOOL

The breakdown: Oakland girls capture third place in 7-AAA Tournament

Cecil Joyce
USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee
Oakland's Dekoria Puckett(10) goes up for a shot as Smyrna's Brianna Chapman (32) guards her on Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, during the third-place game of the 7-AAA tournament.

Oakland's girls started strong and held on in the end for a 64-58 win over Smyrna on Monday in the District 7-AAA consolation game at Blackman High School.

The victory puts the Lady Patriots (4-26) at Lawrence County on Friday at 7 in the region quarterfinals. Smyrna (18-11) will travel to Shelbyville.

Oakland jumped out to leads of 7-0, 22-10 and 43-24 in the first half before Smyrna made a frantic comeback attempt in the second half.

Here is a breakdown of the game:

Oakland girls 64, Smyrna 58

Records: Oakland 4-26, Smyrna 18-11.

The skinny: Oakland continued its strong late-season play, winning its fourth game in six after forfeiting 18 victories for violating a TSSAA transfer rule. The Lady Patriots also continued to shoot well from 3-point range, hitting six bombs in the victory. A Kesha Brady 3-pointer had cut Oakland's early lead to 27-20 midway through the second quarter, but Oakland finished the period on a 16-4 run.

A 3-pointer by Sloan Mann started the rally. She hit another try later, and the Lady Patriots finished the quarter on a 6-0 run (including four straight Mari Gaines points) to take a 43-24 halftime lead.

Oakland's Maggie Knowles (23) scrambles to pass the ball after she falls as Smyrna's Candance Gaines (10) goes after the ball Monday, Feb. 20, 2017, during the third-place game of the 7-AAA tournament.

Turning point: With less than three minutes remaining and Oakland clinging to a 58-55 lead, Smyrna appeared to have garnered a steal. However, Brady was called for a pushing foul on the play and Oakland hit one of two free throws to go up by four.

Leading scorers: Oakland: Maggie Knowles 14, Faith Adams 12, Sloan Mann 12; Smyrna: Kesha Brady 23, Diamond Forest 14.

Quotable: "We played fast and had a lot of ball movement in the first half. We battled and made some big plays." — Oakland coach Jennifer Grandstaff

"When we got the ball high-low, they didn't have an answer for it. Brady hit a couple of 3's to get us going in the second half. Oakland didn't make as many shots in the second half. I think our man-to-man defense was better." — Smyrna coach Bud Brandon

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.