7AAA

[PHargis]

'Boro Bound!

Craig Delk

Herald-Citizen Sports Editor

Sunday, Mar 08, 2009

 

click to view gallery

COOKEVILLE -- It's the goal that every team talks about at the first of the season. And now it's a reality for the Cookeville girls basketball team.

 

The Lady Cavaliers will be going to the Class AAA state tournament, after beating Cumberland County 48-33 on Saturday night in the sectional at CHS. The trip is the first for Cookeville since the 1998-99 season, and the win also set a new school standard for wins in a season.

 

"I'm so glad we're there," said senior center Erin Helton, who scored 20 points despite battling foul trouble and playing just a little more than two quarters. "I'm so glad we played our butts off tonight. We got through this game. Winning this game is just like winning the region and district. We've overcome so much this year, it's amazing. I'm so excited."

 

Added sophomore guard Julie Brooks, "I thought we'd have a pretty good season and we'd have a pretty good record, but the state was just one of those goals we hoped for but weren't sure we could really get there. I'm glad we did."

 

Senior guard Kelsey Odle was nearly speechless.

 

"Words don't even describe what it feels like," Odle said. "It's the state. It's amazing. ... Wow!"

 

The Lady Cavaliers (27-7) posted their win despite a lackluster shooting performance in the first half. Though the offense wasn't clicking, the defense carried them through as they held their opponent to less than 50 points for the 11th straight game.

 

"The first half, we weren't hitting anything," Helton said. "But we kept playing phenomenal defense; we're weren't letting them score. We weren't hitting anything, but they weren't hitting anything either."

 

The Lady Jets (20-14), the Region 3-AAA runner-up, stayed in it with good shooting early on. Many Moss made back-to-back threes to trim what was a 7-0 deficit to one, then Taylor Vaden made a basket at the start of the second quarter to tie the game at 13. Those were the last points CCHS scored in the frame, though Cookeville scored just four of its own for a 17-13 halftime advantage.

 

"We didn't shoot that well in the first half; we were rushing things a little bit," Lady Cavs coach Mindy Odom. "That's kinda what their defense was designed to do, and we talked about it a lot at the half that we needed to slow down and play our game. I don't know that we slowed down, but we put shots in a little bit more. I thought we played tremendous defense."

 

Cookeville opened up a 30-21 lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter on an Amanda Randolph free throw. CCHS cut the lead to 30-23 when Missy Bargayo buried a 3-pointer with 7:24 remaining in the game, but got no closer the rest of the way. CHS led by as many as 17 before settling on the final margin.

 

The Lady Cavs exploited the Lady Jets' lack of size by going inside to the 6-foot-2 Helton early and often. She scored 10 points in the first half despite getting her second foul with 5:17 left in the half. Both were offensive.

 

"I just tried to be physical, and obviously I got caught," Helton joked.

 

She picked up her third foul quickly in the third quarter, but returned in the fourth quarter to score 10 more before picking up her fourth foul with 2:03 remaining.

 

"She dominated, and the fouls she got were posting up and boxing out," Odom said. "Then she ran into a screen. I don't have a problem with any of that because she was playing strong. It's amazing that she gets that many points being in there as long as she was. The girls found her, and we talked establishing her inside right from the very start."

 

Odom was also thankful for what was one of the largest crowds of the year.

 

"We had a great crowd tonight, and I kept telling them, 'All these things that are going on are for you, and you deserve them,'" Odom said. "The crowd was great, they were loud, and I think they helped us."

 

In addition to Helton's 20, Brooks scored 11 and Tationia Johnson added 10.

 

For Cumberland County, Bargayo scored 11 and Moss added 10.

 

Now, the Lady Cavs will turn their focus to Murfreesboro's Murphy Center, where they will play Thursday in the quarterfinals. Other teams who won Saturday night include District 7-AAA foe Blackman, and Powell, Bearden, McGavock, Hillsboro, Memphis Overton and Memphis Central.

 

Odom is excited about the team's first state game in a decade.

 

"That's probably too long a drought," she said, "but you've gotta find the teams that have the heart to get there and this team does."

 

Added Helton, "We have no idea who we play, but these eight teams in the tournament are obviously gonna be the best teams in the state. We've played great teams up until now, but we haven't experienced teams of that caliber yet. We're just gonna have to be prepared for it."

 

 

 

Class AAA sectional

 

Cookeville girls 48, Cumberland Co. 33

 

CCHS 11 2 10 10 -- 33

 

CHS 13 4 13 18 -- 48

 

CCHS -- Missy Bargayo 11, Mandy Moss 10, Taylor Vaden 4, Taylor Williams 3, Jaclyn Reagan 3, Kelli Hyder 2.

 

CHS -- Erin Helton 20, Julie Brooks 11, Tationia Johnson 10, Sloan Barnes 4, Kelsey Odle 2, Amanda Randolph 1.

[PHargis]

bump

[14pioneers]

bump

 

The "Ole SWAMI" would just like to take this time to throw out Congrats to Cookeville and Blackman (and former Warren Countian super-soph Kelsey Nowlin, by the way, you made the right choice in moving) in their quest for the Gold Ball !!! Also, Congrats to Senior Alex Adams (Smyrna) also a native Warren Countian , who got away. I wonder why ??????? But, in closing the "SWAMI" would like to thank everyone who contributed to this thread this year. The "SWAMI" is signing off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PHargis]

"Ole Swami", we appreciate you bringing a little life to the site this year and enjoyed your predictions. Great winning record. I also thank you for your persistance and the partison support you have given your beloved pioneers. Every school has partisons and fans who love their school, win or lose and we all realize you don't like to lose but RDman doesn't, 85 doesn't and i can name so many others. 7AAA will finsih up the current configeration after this State tournament and it can be a great finish with two schools in the final 8. While 7 will be 8 next year, I don't know. Some say it will and some say it will stay the same. This has been a great roll but it can bet better. 42000 views and some great posters. This weekend will finish the current run. It's been great and its sometimes been rocky, but its been fun. We'll slide along untill Sat. Night and then this year is History. To coacht, our appreciation for his foresight and allowing us to be partison.

[85warrior]

Anybody out there going to the finals Saturday? I usually do. /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" />

[PHargis]

It's very likely unless i go before but really taking a good look what is happening and will makeup my mind but I will be there a day.

[PHargis]

85, this tournament really has been interesting at the end but have never seen as many upsets. This is really the changing of the guard in so many ways. Schools are reaching parity with other schools and the reclassification may change it again. Next yaers state will again change the mix. The next wave if great players will have to appear next year and they are there and the Schools that will have to retool will be a year away from retaining their previous level. So here we are, hot exactly knowing what to expect. There surely are a lot of underclassmen playing well here at the end.

[KeeperFan15]

From another thread, but I found it interesting.

Now that you mention region strength, the following is the average of the eight teams SOS in each region and the teams that made it out and their SOS:

 

Region 1 - 45 (Tennessee SOS 94)

Region 2 - 61 (Powell SOS 55)

Region 3 - 70

Region 4 - 38 (Blackman SOS 13, Cookeville SOS 11)

Region 5 - 41

Region 6 - 81 (Hillsboro SOS 91, McGavock SOS 66)

Region 7 - 76

Region 8 - 38 (Memphis Central SOS 10, Memphis Overton SOS 12)

 

That puts Hillsboro and McGavock in the weakest region just behind Region 7(Millington), but both Hillsboro and McGavock and been ranked the top ten in middle tennessee for most of the year and they beat two teams(Wilson Central and LaVergne) from a region with a much stronger SOS of 41.

 

One of the strongest regions, #4 has Blackman and Cookeville, both of which consistantly ranked out of the top ten behind Shelbyville and Riverdale.

 

Playing a tougher schedule can certainly help prepare a team even in a loss, but if they peak to soon or have bad matchups, the numbers don't mean much.

[85warrior]

Good luck to Blackman girls in their game against Overton this week. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[dig2win]

Good luck to Blackman girls in their game against Overton this week. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

 

 

 

AHHHHHHHH how sweet!!! Makes me all teary eyed. lol /roflolk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflolk:" border="0" alt="roflolk.gif" />

[PHargis]

AHHHHHHHH how sweet!!! Makes me all teary eyed. lol /roflolk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflolk:" border="0" alt="roflolk.gif" />

85, now see what you've done, you've gotten them emotional. Now if you really wanted to tear them up......................................no, that would never happen, not in a thousand years BUT..........................................................

[85warrior]

AHHHHHHHH how sweet!!! Makes me all teary eyed. lol /roflolk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflolk:" border="0" alt="roflolk.gif" />

 

 

Just wishing a classy 7AAA team the best of luck.