Houston's second half puts Clarksville away

MURFREESBORO — Balanced scoring, led by Jayla Hemingway's 14 points, gave Houston the push it needed in the second half to put Clarksville away 58-45 in the Class AAA girls basketball quarterfinals Wednesday at Murphy Center.

Destinee Wells had 13 and Madison Griggs finished with 10. Houston will face the nation's No. 1-ranked team — Riverdale — in Friday's semifinals at 11:30 a.m. Riverdale rolled past Morristown West 75-46.

Clarksville shot only 26.7 percent from the field. But the Lady Wildcats went 18-of-19 from the foul line and outrebounded  Houston 35-32. Hannah Goins led the Lady Wildcats with 12 points, but all of them came in the first half. No other Clarksville player scored in double figures.

Clarksville (27-6) matched Houston in the first two quarters as the Lady Mustangs held a 26-24 lead at halftime. But Houston (28-3) came out in the second half more aggressive as foul trouble hurt Clarksville's defensive intensity.