Clarksville girls see state quarterfinal slip away in second half

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — The jitters were there. The turnovers and missed shots were there as well. But so was the effort and the pride that still existed after Clarksville High walked out of Murphy Center Wednesday having lost 58-45 to Houston in the Class AAA girls state basketball tournament.

The tears were there, although they were few. Clarksville High faced Houston in the state quarterfinal game with no pressure and no outside expectations. It was quite a far cry from the last time the Lady Wildcats played in Murfreeboro. That Bashaara Graves-led team was among the best teams in the state and much was expected.

This Clarksville High team wasn't anyone's preseason favorite. It wasn't even the preseason favorite among District 10 schools to get to state. And that's why the Lady Wildcats, although disappointed, left Wednesday knowing there wasn't any thing left to give.

"It speaks to the courage of this team that we found other ways to stay in this game," Clarksville coach Brian Rush said. "The girls just kept fighting. When things weren't going right, the girls had the resolve and courage and belief in each other. They just fought together and laid everything out on the line."

For the past four years, Rossview had been the top team in District 10. Henry County ended that district title run last month. Clarksville meanwhile, had the best overall record among district teams, finished third in the league after the regular season and lost to Henry County in the district tournament semifinal. But the region tournament quickly shifted Clarksville from a team in the mix to the team to beat as it captured the region title and knocked off Centennial in the AAA sectional.

Clarksville girls' defense, rebounding secure region title

Clarksville (27-6) drew a difficult half of the state bracket with a 27-3 Houston team in the quarterfinal and a possible date with the nation's No.1 ranked team, Riverdale, in Friday's semifinal. Houston, however, never it let it get to that point for CHS Wednesday as the Lady Mustangs controlled the second half and forced Clarksville to shoot just 26.7 percent from the field.

"We knew this was going to be a tough game," an emotional Hannah Goins said after leading the team with 12 points. "We knew we were going to have to work together and different people were going to have to step up. All of us stepped up the whole game and put everything out there."

Jayla Hemingway had 14 points to lead Houston while Destinee Wells finished with 13.

Reach Prep writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com or (931) 245-0747 and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.