Houston girls eliminate Hamilton
Hamilton's Tesia Thompson went down swinging in her final high school game Friday. And she almost knocked out one of the region's top seeds.
Madison Griggs scored 14 points and Destinee Wells added 13 as the Houston Mustangs — the District 15-AAA champs — ousted the visiting Wildcats, 56-45, Friday in the quarterfinals of the Region 8-AAA tournament.
Houston's victory came at the expense of a tremendous individual effort from Thompson, who scored 35 of her team's points. It wasn't until the 5:08 mark of the fourth quarter when someone other than the senior scored for the Wildcats.
"Frankly, our game plan was to see if she could beat us by herself and she almost did," said first-year Houston coach Ben Moore. "She's a fantastic player. But I'm pleased. We gutted it out. Survive and advance."
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Houston didn't get any help when star sophomore Jayla Hemingway went down with an ankle injury while trying to draw a charge on Thompson about three minutes into the game. She returned before halftime but still seemed to be favoring the injury and finished with 5 points.
Moore said his star would be good to go in Monday's loser-go-home semifinal against Whitehaven. The Tigers eliminated Ridgeway 51-45 behind 16 points from Jasmine Carson, setting up a 6 p.m. semifinal at Southwind.
The 7:30 semifinal will feature Central and White Station. Johne' Stewart scored 16 and Brianna Cooks 15 as the Lady Warriors won on the road against Collierville, 62-48. Jireh Washington and Bionka Massie each had 12 while Lauren Taylor led Collierville with 14.
The top-seeded Lady Spartans rolled past Kirby 74-32 behind 20 from Tamia Jones and 13 from Brittni Moore.
THREE LOCAL TEAMS HEADED TO STATE
Five years ago as an eighth-grader, Ashtyn Baker hit a bucket at the buzzer to send Northpoint to the first of its now five straight state tournaments. There was no such suspense Friday.
Baker — playing in her 160th straight game and final one at home — thoroughly disrupted The King's Academy's offense with 12 steals and added 14 points and eight assists as the Trojans advanced to defend their 2016 Division 2-A championship, 63-27. Lauren Gross led Northpoint with 17, all in the first half, while Jade Wells had 11.
The Trojans (27-2) took any suspense out of the game early as they built a 32-7 lead after one quarter.
Their opponent in Nashville will be Harding, which went to Knoxville and upended top-seeded Webb, 47-40. Shelby County's other D2-A hopeful, Lausanne, lost to Battle Ground Academy, 54-48.
In D2-AA, Savanna Owens scored 23 as Briarcrest (22-8) advanced to the final four for the 14th year in a row, 52-34 over Harpeth Hall. Taylor Clemons added 12 for the Saints.
Hutchison lost to Father Ryan 41-25 while Ensworth eliminated St. Benedict, 58-21. St. Benedict's boys also lost to Ensworth 70-38 as Mr. Basketball finalist James Wiseman, a 6-9 sophomore, scored 22.
REGION 7-AAA
Caitlyn Wilson had 23 points as top-seeded Arlington took control early and advanced to the semifinals with an 82-60 win over Brighton. Lanetta Williams added 16 and Nya Stewart 14 for the Tigers, now 22-8. ... Bartlett lost to Hardin County 38-28 and was eliminated.
REGION 8-AA
Sade Hudson scored 23 points as Trezevant advanced to Monday's semifinals at Jackson Liberty Tech, 58-43 over Ripley. ... Covington surprised top-seeded Raleigh-Egypt 61-46 behind 21 points from Tia Bland. Zaykia Head scored 16 for the Pharaohs, who finish the season 16-9.
REGION 8-A
Miata Borders led the way with 19 as Mitchell improved to 28-3 with a 67-47 victory over Scotts Hill. Vertonia Bady added 16 and Derinisha Taylor 11 for the Tigers, who advance to Monday's semifinals at Jackson Christian.
