Wayne County keeps elusive TSSAA basketball state title hopes within sight after blowout win

MURFREESBORO – Wayne County's Blair Baugus gets teary-eyed just thinking about a state championship. Her teammate Jacqueline Keaton described the Lady Wildcats' desire to finally win one as "blood-thirsty".

Coach Molly Ashley's team has a singular focus and it was on display Wednesday, Wayne County didn't blink when South Fulton was stubborn in the first half, putting away the Lady Red Devils 61-40 in the TSSAA Class 1A state quarterfinals at Murphy Center.

"We've talked about this all year," Keaton said. "We've been so close, twice, and knowing it was within our grip and we missed it. Just left a blood thirsty taste in our mouth and we're really anxious."

Wayne County (31-3) moves into a semifinal showdown against Pickett County (27-2) at 2:15 p.m. Friday. Pickett County cruised to a 54-31 win over Cloudland.

"We want this crazy bad," Baugus said.

Ashley wasn't quite as descriptive in her description of how Wayne County has approached its third straight state tournament trip. She called it a business trip, and there was no one more workman-like than Baugus.

The 2023 Miss Basketball winner, and a finalist this year, was dominant Wednesday with 24 points, 15 rebound and six blocks. South Fulton decided not to double her in the first quarter. Baugus had 12 points. By halftime she had 16 points and eight boards. Nothing worked for the Lady Red Devils.

"I push myself to rebound every single game," Baugus said. "I had 15 (Wednesday) night but I want more than 15. If you don't rebound, you don't win games."

In the past three years, the Lady Wildcats have won 35, 36 and 31 games respectively. They aren't tired of winning games, but the win they want is Saturday in a championship game, and it feels like Wayne County is willing to try anything to take make that happen.

It beat two-time defending state champ McKenzie in the region semifinal over a week ago using what Ashley called a "junk defense" to stop MTSU signee and all-state performer Savannah Davis. It was McKenzie celebrating with the gold ball in 2022 and 2023, leaving Wayne County as the state runner-up both times.

The Lady Wildcats refused to be bothered by the relentless effort from South Fulton. Keaton contributed with 11 points and six steals. But it was Baugus' six offensive rebounds and 16 points off South Fulton turnovers that exhausted the Lady Red Devils.

"They've set the expectation," Ashley said about her team. "We want to get here every year and we feel like we have unfinished business. We felt like that last year and we were just kind of heartbroken."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.