Carter girls beat Alcoa for first region win in 16 years
It has been a while since the Carter High School girls basketball team made it to the region tournament. It has been nearly three times as long since it last won a region game.
Playing in their first region game since the 2010-11 season, the Lady Hornets ended a 16-year drought without a regional semifinal appearance by draining 14 3-pointers en route to a 62-49 victory at Alcoa on Friday in the opening round of the Region 2-AA tournament. Carter’s last region tournament win was Feb. 25, 2002, against Loudon.
The Lady Hornets exited halftime with a 31-28 lead and proceeded to outscore the Lady Tornadoes 19-10 in the third quarter to build more than enough cushion for the final period.
Jordan Heifner drilled four threes and scored a game-high 16 points for Carter, while Evie DePetro added 12. Madison McClurg and Katie Bean both scored in double figures for Alcoa with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Carter advances to face Gatlinburg-Pittman, which steamrolled Scott 72-21, at 6 p.m. Monday at Austin-East. Alcoa ends its season at 11-18.
Maryville 70, Campbell County 50: The Lady Rebels continued their recent roll with a blowout victory of Campbell County in the Region 2-AAA tournament.
The victory is Maryville’s ninth in its last 10 games. In those wins, it is averaging 64.1 points per game and an average margin of victory of 18 points. It is the second straight season Campbell County, which finished the season 22-9, has been bounced in the first round of the region tournament.
Courtney Carruthers tallied a game-high 21 points for Maryville, while Anna Ray and Olivia Pepperman scored 17 and 15 apiece. Haley Comer and Skylar Boshears poured in 17 and 15 points, respectively, for the Cougars.
Maryville advances to play Hardin Valley, which beat Powell 54-35, at 6 p.m. Monday at Oak Ridge.
William Blount 76, Anderson County 40: William Blount jumped out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter after recording 28 points in the period and never let off the gas en route to a rout of Anderson County.
The Lady Governors followed up their imposing opening period with 19 in the second and third quarters to make the fourth a formality.
Fifteen different players scored for William Blount, with Lexi Campos amassing a game high-tying 16 points. Jenna Kallenburg was the only other player to score in double figures with 10. Brooklyn McCoy scored 16 for the Lady Mavericks.
The Lady Govs will travel to Oak Ridge to play the Lady Wildcats in the Region 2-AAA semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Fulton 41, CAK 33: The Lady Falcons scored as many points in the third quarter as they did in the first half (16) while limiting CAK to four points in the period to create enough separation to advance to the Region 2-AA semifinals. Fulton will face Kingston, which defeated Austin-East 60-48, at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Fulton was paced by 16- and 14-point performances from Keke McKinney and Kiyah Latham. Reagan Tate and Amber Heatherly each scored a team-high eight for CAK.
Wartburg 58, Greenback 31: Wartburg held Greenback to single-digit scoring in each period to advance to the Region 2-A semifinals, where it will face Oneida, which beat Tellico Plains 43-35, at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Harriman.
Hannah Hurtt (13), Sydney Kidd (12) and Michaela Poland (10) all scored in double figures for the Lady Bulldogs. Skyler Little tallied a team-high 13 for the Lady Cherokees.
