Senior-laden CAK girls basketball falls to MTCS in overtime of TSSAA Division II-A semifinals

COOKEVILLE — Keira Leffew sacrificed her body with about a minute left in the third quarter.

The star senior going to Lee University dived on the court to secure an offensive rebound around three MTCS defenders and showcased enough awareness to pass it up to her teammate Izzy Proffitt who nailed a mid-range jumper from 15 feet.

The score tied the game after CAK trailed by as many as nine points in the second quarter.

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The hustle from Leffew epitomizes the tenacity CAK (29-6) played with throughout despite losing 63-59 in overtime in the Division II-A semifinals at the Eblen Center. Last season, CAK met MTCS in the same round and lost 67-45.

Leffew led CAK with 19 points and 18 rebounds — eight of which were on the offensive end. Sophomore guard Proffitt had 15 points and five rebounds. It wasn’t enough to overcome senior Jailyn Banks, who finished with a game-high 31 points on 11 of 22 field goals, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals for MTCS (29-6).

MTCS coach Hannah Jones gave kudos to her opponent who played well in overcoming a first-half deficit.

“That second half CAK, props to them, they played smart, they honed in on very specific players,” MTCS coach Hannah Jones said. “They keyed in on mismatches … I want to see a stat sheet right now because I think that they just outrebounded us on the offensive glass.

“I mean CAK played tough props to them, honestly, like they played smart. They played hard.”

CAK finished with 17 offensive rebounds compared to MTCS’ 10 and the Lady Warriors outrebounded their opponent by seven.

Banks was a challenge for CAK to contain from the onset. She expertly found pathways to score around the basket. Even more impressively she found her teammates for open jumpers due to her driving prowess. She finished the first half with 11 points and four assists.

Banks’ favorite target was freshman guard Anna Clay Shirly. She drilled three of her four 3-pointers in the first half and five of seven field goals for 13 points.

CAK got off to a strong start, making the first shot immediately after the tipoff, courtesy of Madison Jones. The Lady Warriors led by 6-4 with 6:02 left in the first quarter. From that moment on in the first quarter, they had difficulties scoring. The Lady Cougars stymied their pace of play and CAK could only muster one point for the remainder of the first quarter.

MTCS ended the first quarter with a 12-1 scoring run. CAK managed to hold even, matching their opponent with 12 points in the half.

CAK battled back to win the third quarter 14-7 and the fourth quarter 19-17. Proffit made a clutch 3-pointer and Emily Wilson came alive to score all 11 of her points in the second half.

CAK coach Abby Williams said that she is proud of her nine seniors and knows that their last game was meaningful.

“(MTCS) hit a few more shots than we did but I wouldn't I wouldn't change anything. This group has worked extremely hard for four years," said Williams.

“What I want to say is thank you to that senior class that has done so much for us and challenge the young ones that are getting ready to step into their shoes, big shoes to fill but they've got all of the potential all the tools they need to be really successful just like this last group was.”