Lakeway Christian takes down Whitwell, advances to finals of Smoky Mountain Classic

Lakeway will play Baylor at Gatlinburg Pittman at 11:30 a.m.

“I think we are still a little rough around the edges but really pleased with the girls and our effort today,” Lakeway coach Randy Coffman said. “I thought that made a big difference today.”

Lakeway was led in the game by Jordaynia Ivie who had 17 points. Ivie scored eight points in the second quarter. Along with Ivie, Maggie Vick added 10 while Madi Hawk, Aubree Laney and Jayden Riddle each had seven. It was a balanced scoring sheet for Lakeway as nine players scored while all 12 players entered the game.

“We did go a little deeper today and got our number eight, number nine, number 10 and even number 11 in today,” Coffman said. “I thought that was key for us to get those players minutes and get them back in the live game experience and see where we are.

“I thought Jayden Riddle was really good for us today. She really was rock solid for us, her minutes went up.”

It was the transition baskets that caught the Lady Tigers off guard as Lakeway exploded down court every time after a defensive rebound, most of the time leading to an easy bucket.

“I thought we were a lot better, especially on the defensive glass, and that got us out in transition,” Coffman said. “We still have to be better running our lanes, I thought we were a little sloppy there.”

For the second straight game, Lakeway got off to a slow start as Whitwell held a one-point lead late in the first quarter. On Monday night against Cocke County, Lakeway trailed for the entire first half.

“I think a lot of where we are at right now is that we haven’t been a great version of ourselves,” Coffman said. “I really thought we were headed that way at Thanksgiving, but we get stopped. It’s just where we are right now.”

The Lady Lions would recover quickly this time around as Hawk hit a 3-pointer and Hailey Brooks hit a basket to give them a four-point lead after one.

In the second, it was all Ivie as she exploded to the rim time and time again for baskets. Lakeway ended the half on a 15-3 run that really put the game away.

In the third, Lakeway kept the lead around 13 for much of the quarter as they seemed to be on cruise control. In the fourth, Coffman emptied the bench as Lakeway never let off the gas for a 20-point win.

Despite the win, Lakeway did look out of control and sluggish at times, normal for a team coming off a long break in between games.

“We still need to share the ball better, we only had 15 assists,” Coffman said. “We have a big challenge ahead of us tomorrow, but it should be a good one.”