Why Molly Masingale was called a ‘true Chargerette’ after TSSAA state tournament loss

MURFREESBORO — McMinn Central’s 46-year girls basketball coach Johnny Morgan spoke with his brother a week ago. They landed on the topic of the current team and the program’s history. 

With thousands of games and hundreds of players in their memory bank, they concluded one thing. 

“Molly (Masingale) is at least in the top two or three of your all-time (most) team-oriented players,” Morgan said. 

Masingale, a Wofford signee, has been an unselfish leader for the Chargerettes over her career. In her final game, the team fell short of advancing to the Class 2A state semifinals. 

McMinn Central was defeated 66-63 in overtime by York Institute at Middle Tennessee State’s Murphy Center on Thursday.

Masingale finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and three assists for McMinn Central (31-5). She made 9-of-16 shots and 6-of-8 3-pointers. Junior Karina Bystry had 23 points, six rebounds and three assists. She missed the final 3-point shot attempt to tie the game. 

Reese Beaty, a Miss Basketball finalist and Clemson commit, led York (27-5) to the victory, finishing with 31 points, six assists and five rebounds. She made 14-of-21 shots. Beaty and Masingale are close friends after playing on the same travel team during the summer and have known each other since the sixth grade. 

McMinn Central went into halftime leading by 10 points. Its opponent pursued a furious comeback in the third quarter, outscoring the Chargerettes 17-9 in the period, and eventually led to the overtime win. 

Masingale was an offensive weapon McMinn Central valued throughout the day, but just as important was her commitment to the team structure on offense and defense. She crashed the glass and found the open teammate when needed, doing everything she could to help get a win.

“She cares more about the team than your average player,” Morgan said. “It gets to the point that she thinks she’s helping the team by getting other shots when she needs to be taking the shot … It doesn’t matter if she had scored 46 tonight and we’ve lost, that’s just a hollow victory.”

“She’s a true Chargerette,” Morgan said. 

Masingale’s talent and willingness to believe in the team has led to over 100 career wins for the seniors, four state sectional appearances and back-to-back appearances in the state tournament, including a state championship runner-up finish in 2023. 

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Masingale said her final game is difficult, but she’ll remember her time at McMinn Central fondly because of the relationships she has. 

“A bunch of fun memories,” Masingale said. “I’ve been playing with these girls ever since we were little. We grew up playing rec-ball together.

“The thing that sticks out for me the most would be the memories made off the court. Going out to eat together, doing a bunch of things on the weekend together … These are my best friends and I’m sure we’ll keep in touch when I move away.”

Toyloy Brown III is a Knox News sports reporter. Email toyloy.brown@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter, @TJ3rd_.