Both district champions advanced in the semifinal round of the Region 3-AAA girls basketball tournament being played at East Ridge High School’s Catherine Neely Gymnasium on Monday night and neither were close games.
District 5 champ Heritage had no trouble getting past Soddy Daisy with a final score of 65-48 while District 6 winner Signal Mountain had even less trouble eliminating Lenoir City by a 57-27 final in the second game.
Heritage and Signal Mountain will meet on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. to determine the region champion. Boys take center stage on Tuesday night with District 5 winner South Doyle facing District 6 runner-up Signal Mountain in the first game at 6 while District 6 winner Red Bank will battle District 5 runner-up Heritage in the second game.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 57, LENOIR CITY 27: The Lady Eagles improved to 22-6 with the lopsided win as a strong defense by Signal Mountain held the Lady Panthers to just 16 points in the first three quarters before winning with ease.
Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell has been saying for a long time that she has a balanced team who can do a lot of things well. She echoed those same feelings after the final horn sounded Monday night.
“I’m super proud of these girls as they played really good defense. We really dominated on the boards, but we’ll have to play equally well on Wednesday if we expect to beat Heritage,” Bell said after exiting the Signal Mountain dressing room.
“I have said from the beginning that we have a well-rounded team with any number of girls who can score, but it’s rare for a team to have two really good post players like we have in Carlee Lowry and Ashlyn Rock. Both can score and both can rebound and Ashlyn is one of our better ball handlers.
“We’ll celebrate a little bit tonight, but have to get ready for Wednesday as we’ll have our work cut out for us,” she added.
Emily Redman started the scoring for the Lady Eagles with a 3 from the wing and Rock followed with back-to-back buckets as Signal bolted to a 7-1 lead in the first two and a half minutes.
Rylee Bolling, who got Lenoir City on the board with a free throw at the 5:30 mark, added a layup about two minutes later to cut Signal’s lead to 9-3, but the Lady Eagles finished the quarter on a 6-3 run for a comfortable 15-6 at the first break.
The Lady Panthers scored the first two buckets of the second quarter to get within five t 15-10, but the Lady Eagles extended their lead to 22-13 after scoring the last five points of the half.
An 18-3 advantage in the third quarter totally broke the game open. A free throw by Alex McNabb with 6:36 showing cut Signal’s lead to 24-14, but by the time Alexis Varner scored on a drive down the lane a bit more than five minutes later, this game was over as the Lady Eagles had stretched the lead to 38-16.
A layup by Rock with 4:53 left in the game gave Signal its biggest lead at 48-16.
Lowry set the pace for the Lady Eagles as she scored 24 points, including 15 in the second half. She also dominated on the boards with 18 rebounds as the Lady Eagles had an unofficial 31-14 advantage on the glass. Rock finished with 18 points and nine rebounds while Redman was next with eight points.
Bolling was tops for the Lady Panthers with eight points and six rebounds.
Lenoir City finishes its season at 12-18.
HERITAGE 65, SODDY DAISY 48: Soddy Daisy played well at the start and even had a 10-8 lead after the first quarter. A 7-0 run by Heritage midway through the second period broke a 12-12 tie and the Lady Mountaineers finished the half on a 19-5 run.
The difference was 20 points with 1:20 left in the third quarter when Carsyn Swaney swished a 3 from the wing for a 51-31 lead while a jumper by Chlee Heath with 3:27 to play gave the Lady Mountaineers their biggest lead at 63-42.
Swaney scored 32 points to lead Heritage while Heath followed with 17 and Jay Coker with 10.
Hannah Patterson was tops for the Lady Trojans with 17 points while Alivia Hall and Abby Faires were also in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Soddy Daisy did win the battle of the boards as the Lady Trojans had an unofficial 23-21 advantage there as Patterson grabbed seven and Baylee Edmondson six for Soddy Daisy. Ketie Graves and Coker both had four for Heritage.
Heritage improves to 28-3 while Soddy Daisy’s season ends with a record of 20-13.
FAMILY TIES: The Lenoir City coach is Shelley Collier, who just happens to be the mother of Soddy Daisy coach Katie Wright. Collier is a former star for the Tennessee Lady Vols and was on Pat Summit's first national championship team in 1987.
LENOIR CITY 6 7 3 11 -- 27
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 15 7 18 17 -- 57
LENOIR CITY (27) – Varner 6, D. Williams 3, Wiggins 3, Bolling 8, K. Williams, Howell, Daugherty 3, Rittenhouse, Walters, Gresham, McNabb 1, Jones 3.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN (57) – Walker 2, Roberson, Clark, Redman 8, Carlee Lowry 24, Ashlyn Rock 18, Griffith 3, Bohman, Provonsha 2.
3-Point Goals: Lenoir City 4 (D. Williams, Wiggins, Bolling, Jones); Signal Mountain 3 (Redman 2, Griffith).
SODDY DAISY 10 7 18 13 -- 48
HERITAGE 8 23 22 12 -- 65
SODDY DAISY (48) – Edmondson 2, Alivia Hall 15, Abby Faires 12, Ward, Pourfarzib, Jenkins 6, Renfro, Stewart 2, Hannah Patterson 17, Spencer, Hughes.
HERITAGE (65) – Smith 2, Byrd, Carsyn Swaney 32, Jay Coker 10, Doyle, Graves, Chlee Heath 17, Morris 2, Coker 2, Carswell, Boyce.
3-Point Goals: Soddy Daisy 5 (Hall 2, Faires 2, Patterson); Heritage 6 (Swaney 3, Heath 3).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)