How stress fracture made Westview basketball star Jada Harrison stronger for senior season

Tom Kreager
Nashville Tennessean

MURFREESBORO – Jada Harrison is bigger. She's stronger. She may even be a littler faster.

And it showed Thursday in Westview's 44-42 win over York Institute in a Class 2A TSSAA state quarterfinal in a rematch of last year's state championship, which Westview won 47-37.

Harrison, an MTSU signee, scored a game-high 16 points and hit two free throws with six seconds left for the game winner. Harrison was fouled when she took York defender Reese Beaty off the dribble in the final 10 seconds.

"Bigger and stronger for sure," Harrison said. "This summer I got a stress fracture in my foot. All I could do was lift, lift every day. I couldn't really do anything else. You had no choice to get bigger then. Faster? I believe I've gotten a faster first step.

"I don't want to say it, but I'm kind of thankful that (the stress fracture) happened. It allowed me to see things better as well, just watching them every day. It allowed me to appreciate it more."

Harrison was 9-of-10 from the free throw line while just 3-of-5 from the field. As a team, Westview (31-1) was 17-of-20 from the free throw line while York (33-3) was 2-of-6.

Gabby Beaty's baseline jumper at the buzzer was short and came after Westview milked the clock with fouls after having just three in the half entering the last possession.

"We've worked on that probably once in practice and that was early in the year," Westview coach Brian Haskins said. "You have to be careful because you don't want an intentional called on you. We said just hand check them."

Westview plays Community (27-6) at 6 p.m. Friday in a state semifinal. Community beat Scotts Hill 53-52 in its quarterfinal.

Harrison, a Class 2A Miss Basketball finalist, won the head-to-head against fellow Miss Basketball finalist Beaty, who finished with six points. York coach Michael Green said she drew the defensive assignment on Harrison as the Dragonettes tried to slow down teammates McCall Simms and Kylee Alexander, who are the Lady Chargers' second- and third-leading scorers.

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"I wasn't really thinking about (playing against a Miss Basketball finalist) during the game," Harrison said. "I was just thinking about winning. After I was like, 'Oh, I see what this was.'"

Harrison is extremely familiar with playing at MTSU. While the team doesn't play at MTSU in team camps, it has now played seven times at Murphy Center with a 6-1 record. The Lady Chargers won their first game in 2020, Harrison's freshman year, before the rest of the tournament was canceled because of COVID-19.

"You can never let the defense see that you are rattled," Harrison said. "You have to stay calm and poised.

"This will be my home away from home in a few months."