Creek Wood relies on experience to claim sixth straight district title

It took the full 32 minutes for Creek Wood's girls basketball team to win its sixth consecutive District 11-AA Championship on Saturday.

Junior Raegan Hohl connected on a 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Lady Red Hawks to a 46-44 win over Stewart County.

“It felt good for us to get the win,” Creek Wood first-year coach Russell Wilson said after the game. “It means a lot and especially for these seniors to say they’ve won it all four years is something special.”

Wilson knew he was inheriting a talented Red Hawks team when he accepted the position over the summer.

“I (coached) most of these girls in middle school,” Wilson said. “If I haven’t coached them, I coached against them. It was easy transitioning as coach because I didn’t have to learn any names.”

Wilson has been coaching for almost 20 years, and had served as an interim coach for the Lady Red Hawks prior to the hiring of former coach Sam Young.

This season, Wilson credits the depth of his team as a key part of their run in the District 11-AA tournament.

“We have a lot of experience back from last year,” Wilson said, “Some of our girls are three-year starters. They have good work ethic in practice which has allowed them to enjoy success this season.”

The Lady Red Hawks are 19-1 over the past six years in postseason district play, the lone lost coming in 2012 to eventual district champion Waverly, who made it to the TSSAA Class AA state quarterfinals.

“The key to this team is the experience,” Wilson said. “Over the past five seasons, the seniors have been here for four years so no one wants to be the team that breaks that streak.”

Senior guard, Lydia Edmonson believes her team has what it takes to keep winning.

“It’s my senior year so obviously I want to go as far as we possibly can,” Edmonson said. “We have the experience to go far and I want to keep playing basketball.”

Edmonson was a sophomore when the Lady Red Hawks fell just one game shy of the state tournament.

“We have to go one game at a time,” Edmonson said. “We can’t look ahead. We have to keep working. Overall, we have to want it and play hard for each other.”

For now, Wilson and the Lady Red Hawks are enjoying their district championship, but Wilson says they still have to fight to advance in the regionals.

“By no means will it be easy,” Wilson said. “The final four teams in our district were all really good and our region is really good.”

After winning the regular season and district title, the Lady Red Hawks (26-4, 13-1) advance to the Region 6-AA tournament where they await Forrest.

“I think we can beat anyone, but they can beat us too,” Wilson said. “It’s a wide-open region and we look forward to facing Forrest.

“We feel like anything can happen.”

Reach Andrew Preston at APreston@tennessean.com or 615-259-8015 and on Twitter @AndrewPreston33