Goodpasture falls in TSSAA basketball tournament's first DII girls 3OT title game: 'We gave everything we had'

COOKEVILLE — Brooklyn Jones stared at the ground with the neck of her jersey in her mouth before she turned to Ona Hawkins and tapped her on the leg during the trophy presentation.  

Jones said a few encouraging words, but it was hard to feel joy in that moment. 

The misty-eyed Goodpasture basketball guards cracked a few smiles when they met with reporters after losing 70-58 in triple overtime against University School of Jackson (23-5) in the Division II-A girls TSSAA state championship game Saturday. 

They weren’t sure how to feel after coming up just short in Goodpasture's first state championship game appearance, which became an instant classic. 

“They’re all over the place,” Jones said of her emotions. “We played as hard as we could, we gave everything we had. It’s hard to see your season end like that when you really put it all on the court like we did.” 

It was the first triple-overtime game in TSSAA Division II girls basketball since the classification was formed ahead of the 1998 season. The TSSAA state tournament record for overtimes is four set by Cannon County and Powell in 1987. 

"I'm not disappointed," Goodpasture junior guard Addi Ruffin said. "I just think we deserved to win. But I’m proud of our team and the way we performed."

The teams played through 10 ties and 13 lead changes until USJ guard and DII-A Miss Basketball finalist Haylen Ayers took over in the third OT. Ayers, who is the No. 3 player in the country according to ESPN for the class of 2027, finished with a game-high 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Bruins.

Hawkins scored a team-high 19 points for Goodpasture (25-4) and Jones added 18. Jones is 5-foot tall and Hawkins is 5-4, yet they were able to convert layups over a bigger USJ team led by Ayers, who is 6-foot. 

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“We're small," Goodpasture coach Taylor Clay said, "But we're mighty."

Ayers' putback at the buzzer forced the third overtime. She scored the first six points in the final extra period, converting a 3-point play that was part of a 14-2 run to end the game.

“I think that (3-point play) was hard, battling back mentally from that, thinking, ‘Oh, we just went down six that quick,’ ” said Clay, who is in his second season with the program. “You put so much effort in, so many overtimes. I think that deflated us a little bit.”

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Clay was still proud. It was hard to remember after a long game, but Goodpasture trailed 13-2 after the opening tipoff and was in danger of being blown out. 

The Lady Cougars could be back in Cookeville in 2024-25. They will return four of five starters.

“I think we’ll all remember this feeling we have right now,” Hawkins said, “to (help us) get back here next year.”

Reach sports writer Tyler Palmateer at tpalmateer@tennessean.com and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.