How loss to rival Gibson County refocused Westview basketball for TSSAA girls state title run

MURFREESBORO – Brian Haskins had the defending TSSAA Class 2A girls basketball state champions headed toward an undefeated record late in the regular season when he began to think aloud: "We need a loss."

"They got mad at me — they won't tell it," Haskins said. "I said that about two weeks prior to that loss. I said, 'We need a loss.' I hate to say that."

That loss came on Feb. 18 to rival Gibson County in the District 12-2A championship and reignited Westwiew's state tournament run. The Lady Chargers (32-1) are now headed back to the Class 2A state championship game after a 43-27 semifinal win over Community (27-7) on Friday at Middle Tennessee State's Murphy Center.

"Nobody is going to remember my win-loss record, so I said we need a loss to get us going forward," Haskins said. "In practice, you can tell them one thing, but they are still winning. And they know that. I know that, I was a player. I get it. If you are winning, coach is wrong. I get it.

"But when we lost, that was the best week of practice we had."

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The Lady Chargers will play McMinn Central (28-7) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Westview enters the state championship on a six-game win streak and is led by Miss Basketball finalist Jada Harrison, an MTSU signee. Harrison had 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting. She was 4-of-4 from the free throw line and had five rebounds with three assists. Teammate Jillian Brigance had 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting, including 4-of-4 from the 3-point line.

"From the beginning, I would always tell them to never take anything for granted," Harrison said. "This whole season I've said never take any practice for granted. Let's just stay together and have as much fun as possible.

"Now that (the final game) is here, it hurts. But I'm going to give it all I've got."

The two teams combined to shoot 12-of-43 from the 3-point line. Westview was 4-of-5 from inside the 3-point line for the game. Community was 7-of-15. The Viqueens were led by MJ Simmons, who scored 18 points in her final high school game.

"When they were in their zone, we were looking to score," Haskins said. "I think they were trying to slow it down a little bit. And that's fine. I think it frustrated a little bit."

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@gannett.com and on Twitter @Kreager.