cmeister

One key for CPA is shooting percentage. Obion Central shot an impressive 60 percent in their win over Gibson Co. earlier this season. On the flip side, Gibson Co.'s three opponents at state last year averaged 36 percent from the field.

Another key, obviously, is how CPA handles the Lady Pioneer press. Gibson Co.'s three opponents at state last year had 31, 26 and 26 turnovers respectively.

Liberty wins 64-44

Working now.

Westwood leads 45-42 early in 4th

Liberty 60-38

3:38 left

End of 3rd quarter - Liberty 52, BTW 32

Liberty started the quarter on a 16-0 run and outscores the Warriors, 23-6 in the 3rd.

Liberty 39-26, 5:43 in 3rd

Start 2nd half on a 10-0 run

Timeout BTW

Westwood 35-29 at half

Wow. That last two minutes of the first half was incredible!

I'm now listening to the Liberty-BTW game and will be updating it on the Scoreboard page.

Not of any consequence to Wednesday's game, but maybe of some interest. CPA girls have played in the state basketball tournament just once in the past decade (2005). The Lady Lions beat Westmoreland in the quarterfinals but lost to a Gibson Co. team - eventual state champion Peabody - in the Class A semifinals.

Peabody will lose four seniors - Rachelle Bolden, Jasmine Latham, Brianna Harper and Marrine Johnson. That's 68 percent of the Lady Tide offense. Peabody returns its second leading-scorer, Lorna Hudson (11.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg) for her junior season. Rising junior Candace Tucker (3.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg) gained some valuable experience for Coach Lumley this year.

Bradford loses just one senior, Molly Wallsmith. Of course, she was responsible for 40 percent of the Lady Red Devil offense. Bradford's second-leading scorer, Sarah Combs (8.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg) returns for her senior season. Coach Eddings will again have a young team with only three upperclassmen (Combs, Bratton and Street).

P&G, you are correct. I just wanted to hear it from littleo

Like you, I've been on both sides of the coin. Have seen Memphis girls teams come to Gibson Co., Westview, North Side, etc. and lose. Have been with rural West Tenn. boys teams to Westside, BTW, Manassas, etc. and lose.

Littleo, that was a well-written and thoroughly thought out post. I really appreciate that.

While the Melrose-Shelbyville game was a little before my time, I've heard Melrose had an outstanding team that year and beat the Golden Eaglettes by about 30.

By the way, Hillsboro and Memphis Central combined for about 500 fans at the AAA title game last year. But it was one of the most exciting tournament games over the past several years, with Hillsboro winning on a last-second shot.

Do you really think teams go on the road and get "cheated," or is that just a self-serving attribution - that is, crediting success to internal factors (we're just a good team) and explaining failure by blaming external, situational factors (referees, crowd, etc.). To clarify, 8AA teams are 0-10 in road sectional games this decade. I realize it is a chicken-egg type question, but do you think they haven't won because they were cheated, or that the "cheating" was created as a reason to explain the losses?

So why did 13AA teams win SIX sectional games in Memphis this decade?

2001 - Westview beat Ridgeway

2003 - Westview beat Ridgeway

2004 - Crockett Co. beat B.T. Washington

2005 - Obion Central beat Hillcrest

2008 - Milan beat Hillcrest

2009 - Westview beat Mitchell

But more importantly, how did FIVE Memphis teams make it to the state championship game?

2000 - Hamilton, AAA runner-up

2004 - Craigmont, AAA runner-up

2006 - Hillcrest, AA champion

2007 - Northside, AAA runner-up

2009 - Central, AAA runner-up

Did they "manipulate," too? Maybe it was because they were simply better than their competition.

Just got the 8AA championship score. Fairley beats Manassas, 89-83 in 3OT.

Sectionals:

Westview (25-8) at Fairley (30-4)

Manassas (22-4) at Gibson Co. (31-1)

Score by quarters:

GCHS - 16 21 18 9 -- 64

WHS - 4 15 23 2 -- 44

Leading scorers:

GC - Butler 25, Griffin 23

WHS - Rechis 12

Final stats:

2 pt. FG - GC 21-33, WHS 13-31

3 pt. FG - GC 5-14, WHS 5-11

Free throws - GC 7-8, WHS 3-9

Rebounds - GC 22, WHS 14

Turnovers - GC 4, WHS 5

Final from Lexington.

Gibson Co. 64, Westview 44

Congratulations to Coach Russell and Gibson Co. on their third consecutive regional championship! Best of luck to both teams on Saturday night in the sectionals. Hope to see the Lady Pioneers and Lady Chargers next week in Murfreesboro.

All-Region Team:

Gibson Co. - Heather Butler, Heather Griffin, Aubrey Reedy

Westview - Amber Rechis, Grace Ann Swaim

Obion Central - Chassidy Fussell, Macy Wright

Bolivar - Kendra Williams, Emily Rivers

End of third quarter:

Gibson Co. 55, Westview 42

Lady Chargers outscore Gibson Co., 23-18 in the period.

It's halftime in Lexington.

Gibson Co. 37, Westview 19

Stats at the break:

2 pt. FG - GC 13-19, WHS 6-15

3 pt. FG - GC 3-7, WHS 2-5

Free throws - GC 2-2, WHS 1-4

Rebounds - GC 11, WHS 4

Turnovers - GC 2, WHS 4

Heather Butler and Heather Griffin have 12 points each for Gibson Co.

Amber Rechis leads Westview with 7 points.

End of first quarter:

Gibson Co. 16, Westview 4

Lady Pioneers started on a 9-0 run.

Westview scored its first points at the 2:40 mark.

Aubrey Reedy with 7 points for Gibson Co.

Gleason outscored Humboldt, 19-7 in the 4th quarter.

Leading scorers:

GHS - Jenna Frazier 15, Taylor Stout 15, Kim Edenfield 12

HHS - Patra Hubbard 18, Keisha King 10

All-Region 7A Team:

McKenzie - Alex Gray

West Carroll - Morgan Woodard

Bradford - Molly Wallsmith

Dresden - Jessica Parsley

Greenfield - Katie McCall

Lake Co. - T.T. Flowers

Humboldt - Patra Hubbard, Keisha King

Gleason - Taylor Stout, Kim Edenfield

MVP - Jenna Frazier, Gleason

Coach of the Year - Joel Ayers, Gleason

Final - Bolivar 66, Covington 53

Bolivar led 57-53 with about 1:45 to go, but the Tigers ended the game on a 9-0 run to send them back to the regional championship and sectionals.

Jay Murphy led Bolivar with 19 points.

Bolivar leads 30-22 at halftime.

Online at wnws.com.

Gibson Co. beats Bolivar, 70-44.