Whitehaven girls basketball stuns Arlington in Region 8-4A semifinals

Whitehaven girls basketball coach Lynn Smith is no stranger to the TSSAA Division I state tournament. The players on his team, however, haven't really had that experience.  

That will change, as the Tigers' 52-51 win over Arlington in the Region 8-4A semifinals on Monday night was bigger than any other from this season.  

"They don’t know what the next game is,” said Smith. “They don’t know what this means, they just play.” 

The Tigers knocked off one of the area’s best teams at this time of the season; Arlington (19-8) had won four of the last five region championships in which it has played.

Senior guard Jeurnei Wright led Whitehaven (24-2) with 15 points and La'Niyah Moore added 14 points. Tierney Kelsey led the game in scoring for Arlington with 23 points.

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Whitehaven's game plan was to eliminate Arlington’s presence inside as much as possible. In doing so, it ran a lot of half-court trapping schemes to force turnovers near midcourt, and the Tigers never felt out of the game.  

"We call it blue defense,” Smith said. “Twenty-two feet. That’s as far as we go. And we’re going to be tough.” 

Beyond the defensive emphasis, Whitehaven came into the game with the same mindset it had all season.  

And now it gets to play in the Region 8-4A final. The Tigers haven't won a region title since they beat Houston in the 2019-20 season.  

This Whitehaven team might not understand what knocking off Arlington means, but the Tigers do know their season is still alive.  

And that was the end goal, to make sure they were still playing through the weekend.  

"We’re trying to work as hard as we can to get to state,” said Wright.  

Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on Twitter @wynstonw__.