The Grundy County girls’ basketball team’s postseason came to an end last Friday in Music City in the regional quarterfinals. For the second time in as many years, top-seeded East Nashville brought an end to hoops season for the Lady Jackets.
The hosting Eagles dispatched fourth-seeded Grundy 74-34 as standout guard Jaslynn Walter led the offensive charge. The 5-foot-10 junior, who has already garnered Division I offers, put up 29 points to advance ENMS to the regional semifinals.
“East Nashville has a great team,” GCHS head coach Brittany Woodlee said. “They’re very talented, and they did what we wouldn’t - score the basketball from anywhere on the floor.
“On film, it looked like they were an inside-shooting team. When we tried to push them out to the perimeter, they started hitting shots there, too.”
Walter was responsible for three of the Eagles’ 3-pointers, while the rest of her team accounted for the other four.
Grundy trailed just 17-12 after the first quarter. Freshman Gracie Panter had a pair of buckets and Carlee Smartt scored her only points of the night on a 3-pointer, but it was all Eagles from there. East Nashville outscored the Lady Jackets 22-2 in the second and 18-13 in the third.
Panter led GCHS in scoring with 12, hitting a pair of 3’s in the second half, and senior Wrylee McDaniel tacked on a second-best nine points with the help of two 3-pointers and a free throw.
Grundy ended its season with a 14-16 overall record, improving on its mark from a year ago by four games. It’s the first time a GCHS girls’ team has won 14 games in a single season since 2017-18.
“It’s not the way we wanted the season to end, obviously, but there’s only one team that gets to end its season with a win,” Woodlee said. “But I am very proud of this team. They’ve come a long way from where they were two years ago, and we’re still improving. I really like where our program is headed.”
The Lady Jackets are now 24-36 in two seasons under Woodlee’s direction.
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