How Ally Weathers became latest in family to send Loretto into TSSAA basketball championship game

MURFREESBORO – All Loretto coach Ashley Rutledge could do down the stretch was pray.

She stood on the sideline and coached her team back from a double-digit deficit to first send their Class 2A state semifinal to overtime before beating Gatlinburg-Pittman 55-52 on Friday in the TSSAA girls basketball state tournament.

Loretto (29-3) plays Gibson County (37-1) in the Class 2A state championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.

“I'm going to be real honest, the whole last minute I was praying up and down the sideline,” Rutledge said after the game. “And I'm not just saying that, like I truly was praying, please give them the energy to finish, please give them the confidence in themselves because our faith is big on our team.”

Loretto missed seven free throws in the final 90 seconds of overtime, giving Rutledge plenty of reason to stress, but a couple of huge defensive plays kept Gatlinburg-Pittman scoreless during that extra period, ultimately securing the win for the Lady Mustangs.

“I guess they just wanted to make it a little extra interesting for all the spectators by missing the free throws, but normally we knock those down,” Rutledge said.

Loretto junior Ally Weathers led all scorers with 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting. She also hauled in 16 rebounds and never left the court for the second straight state tournament game.

Weathers is the third of three siblings to get to the TSSAA championship game. Brother Ryan Weathers, now a pitcher with the Miami Marlins, was the Class 1A boys tournament MVP in 2018 when the Mustangs won the championship. Sister Karly Weathers, who now plays at Alabama, was the state tournament MVP in 2021 as well as Miss Basketball.

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“I mean, it's definitely tough to follow in those footsteps. I mean, they were also the MVP(s) of those tournaments, so it was really awesome to watch them do that," Ally said. "I mean, I'm just looking to lead my team in the best way possible. Whether that means scoring, rebounding, playing defense, doing whatever it takes for my team to wi.

"And I'm glad we get to finish out in the final game of the year. I mean, that's as far as you can make it and we've made it there.”

There parents are former MLB pitcher David Weathers and Belmont hall of fame athlete Kelli Weathers, who was a star basketball player in college.

Beyond being the game’s leading scorer and rebounder, Weathers came up huge on the defensive end in overtime. She secured a clutch steal, pulling the ball out of Miss Basketball finalist Maddy Newman’s hands in the final 40 seconds. And it was Ally's blocked shot that ended the game on the Lady Highlanders' last possession.

“I mean, I'll just say this: She definitely could have been a finalist for Miss Basketball,” Rutledge said. “And if anybody didn't see her play today, then they're probably scratching their head why she wasn't.”