Sequoyah’s season came to an end in the opening game of the District 5-3A tournament Thursday at Lenoir City.
The fifth-ranked Lady Chiefs fell 38-23 in the play-in game against No. 4 Loudon.
A young team throughout the season, Sequoyah (5-21) entered the opening game of the postseason starting four sophomores and a senior.
“I think for a lot of them, the moment was bigger than they were. That comes with the inexperience of not being there,” Sequoyah coach Allyson Bowers said.
Bowers began dressing junior varsity players towards the end of the regular season in hopes of avoiding the inexperience gap come next season.
“Come next year, this trip will not be foreign to them like it was this year. Obviously, Emily Hunt had some experience last year and Savannah Kirkland had a little bit of experience last year,” Bowers added. “When you are coming in as a sub like they were last year, it is not that big of a deal. But when you become the real-deal player, several of them had to step into those roles this year and it is a different story.
“I think that finally caught up with us.”
Sequoyah was also without junior Megan Ladd due to injury.
Finding a strong defensive start was not a challenge, Sequoyah held Loudon (13-16) to one field goal and three points through the first eight minutes. However, the opposition sparked its offense in the second with six field goals and 13 points.
“Out of the gate, we did a really good job of scrambling on fast breaks and finding the ball. As the game went on, we got into foul trouble,” Bowers said.
Bella Hall and Hunt found fewer minutes on the floor early on. Sequoyah’s four point lead after the first quarter turned into a five point deficit at the break.
“Bella brings a defensive tenacity that I cannot match with any other player on the team,” Bowers said. “We continued to grind and continued to fight. We just came up on the short end.”
Hall led Sequoyah with seven points off of three field goals. The Lady Chiefs finished with eight field goals on the night.
Down eight points at the start of the fourth quarter, Sequoyah added eight points with field goals coming from Lily Cathcart and Hall.
“Loudon plays some pretty aggressive defense. We had great shots, but we could not get them to fall,” Bowers said. “Our offense ran pretty decent and we took some good shots. There were only a couple times in the game I was sort of questioning what they were doing.”
Cathcart finished with five points followed by four from Hunt, three from Savannah Kirkland and two points each from Haley Carroll and Camryn Elgin.
“For the most part, our offense ran like it should. We got shots off and sometimes I felt like we got too many shots off,” Bowers added. “That is kind of the way the offense fell. I felt like we executed pretty well, but could not get a bucket to fall.”
With the number of young players on the floor — Elgin, Hunt, Kirkland, Kalli Compton amongst others — the Lady Chiefs have a positive note set for the next season.
“I am excited for our future just given that we had played so many young players this year and they got so much valuable playing time,” Bowers said. “Knowing that all this experience is coming back, the offseason is going to be their best friend.”
Sequoyah rostered four seniors — Carroll, Ella Debity, Olivia Hill and Paisley Lane — along with senior manager Lindsey Roberson.
“I had a great group of seniors this year. Their work ethic, their integrity, their class, their character — that all goes unmatched,” Bowers said.
Carroll — a four-year player — is considering becoming an educator, Hill is looking at joining the Air Force, Debity wants to become a physical therapist and Lane is considering being a cosmetologist, per Bowers.
Roberson wants to be a history teacher.
“The career choices that they want are servants. That is who they are, they have a servant’s heart. They are always wanting to better someone else,” Bowers said. “I cannot say enough about this senior class and the heart that they have. The things they bring to the table outside the lines, that is something that any coach and parents are proud to have as part of their program and family.”
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