MURFREESBORO — In a reverse of last year's TSSAA Sectional game at Blackman, Cleveland's Lady Raiders fell behind early, but fought their way back to pull off the upset to earn their first Girls State Championship berth since 2008.
Becoming just the second District 5 team to ever win at "The Furnance" Cleveland overcame an 11-1 deficit to start the contest to hold a desperation 3-point attempt at the buzzer to set off the "Blue" celebration with a 40-38 victory.
"Started out really slow and got down by 10, but we weathered the storm," proclaimed a jubilent first-year head coach Bianca Hensley. "Our kids just stayed with the game plan. The game plan was to make Flowers and Mastin (Blackman guards) shoot tough shots.
"We had so many kids that played well. I can't say enough about our freshmen. Emily Patterson came in and got some big defensive rebounds. Izzy Smith came in and did a really good job of defending the guard and Laney Copeland gave us some good minutes.
"It was a total team effort," she assessed. "Just proud of our girls and excited to get to the state tournament for the first time since 2008. It's a wonderful accomplishment and we're not done yet."
The victory coming against the tough Blackman program made it even sweeter for a couple of reasons — first, because the Blaze ended Cleveland's season last year in Coach Tony Williams' final game; second, it was just the second win for Coach Hensley in eight games in her five-year coaching career.
"It is sweet to come against Blackman. I know this area very well and Coach (Jennifer) Grandstaff is a wonderful coach and does some great things. She's just so tough of a coach to coach against," said Hensley, who coached in the same district and region with the Blaze for four years at Stewarts Creek.
Cleveland (23-9) will open their seventh TSSAA State Championships Wednesday at noon against Lincoln County (25-9), at "The Glass House," in Murfreesboro.
The other opening round games that day includes No. 5-ranked Sevier County (31-3) and 2023 state runner-up Bartlett (28-10) tipping things off at 10:30.
After the Lady Raiders and Lady Falcons shootout, fourth-ranked Coffee County (33-3) will square off with Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett (24-8).
In the final Elite Eight battle, top-ranked and defending state champion Bradley Central (31-1) will duel No. 2 and unbeaten Clarksville (33-0).
The only other time the two archrivals have been in the same state tournament was in 1969, where the Bearettes came in third and the Lady Raiders to the Elite Eight.
A fourth Bradley-Cleveland meeting will only be possible in the state championship game on Saturday afternoon.
LADY RAIDERS 40
LADY BLAZE 38
With only a free throw by District 5 Player of the Year Lauren Hurst providing the only Cleveland point in the game's opening 4-plus minute, Blackman quickly built a double-digit advantage.
The only other Lady Raider points came from junior Emma Smith on a 3-pointer from the corner at the 3:33 mark and a driving basket by classmate Tamiah Tanner with 40 ticks on the clock as the hosts led 15-6 at the first horn.
Cleveland's defense stepped up in the second period, holding the Blaze to just a pair of field goals, while the Lady Raider offense put up an 8-0 run in the final three minutes to even the game (19-19) at the intermission.
The teams jockeyed back-and-forth with four lead changes in the third period, with the visitors holding a 30-27 edge at the buzzer.
The lead changed hands twice more and the score knotted two times in the final eight minutes.
Cleveland evened the score (35-all) on a 3-pointer by Hurst with 2:45 remaining and then took the lead on an offensive rebound putback by Patterson, who was fouled on the shot and converted the and-1 with 107 ticks to go.
Cleveland added a free throw by Hurst with 20.7 on the clock, but the hosts closed the gap to a single point (39-38) when Lyriq Mastin banked in a long-range bomb from the top of the key with just seven seconds on the clock.
Forced to foul, the Blaze sent Callie Brewer to the line and she dropped in her team-leading 12th point with 5.9 to go before Blackman's fanal shot from just inside the half-court line hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
Brewer, the lone CHS senior in the contest, pulled down four rebounds to go with her dozen points, which included her going 5-for-7 at the foul line.
Hurst helped out with eight markers, plus cleared 13 caroms, while Emma Smith drilled a pair from distance on her way to eight points, as well.
Patterson and Tanner pitched in with five points apiece, with the former also pulled down five key boards against the much-taller Blaze posts.
"It is so sweet and this is such a great group of young girls," declared Lady Raider assistant coach Holly Stroud, who was on Cleveland's 2005 state tournament team. "We've got two seniors, but one was hurt, and at one point we had three freshmen on the floor.
"I had lot of these girls in middle school the last few years and they deserve a state tournament. They keep working and getting better and I hope we have even greater things to come."
As far as advice for this week's TSSAA Championships she said, "We'll tell the same thing we told them about this game — go out and play like it's your last game and give 100% the whole time and don't be the reason we go home."
While Mastin netted a game-high 15 points and Florida Gulf Coast signee Kaelyn Flowers added a dozen, the Lady Raider "D" held 6-foot-2, 180-pound Michigan signee Aaiyanna Dunbar to just three points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Neither team shot well from the floor — CHS 12-of-41 (29.3%); BHS 13-of-46 (28.3%) — the visitors were able to sink 11-of-15 free tosses, while the hosts only went to the line seven times, making five.
The teams were close on rebounds, the Blaze holding a 26-24 edge, as well as on turnovers 5-8.
