There was a slight upset in the consolation game, but no surprises in the championship at Signal Mountain Tuesday night as the top-seeded Soddy Daisy Lady Trojans kept a long winning streak alive as they defeated the Lady Eagles from Signal Mountain by a 41-29.
The fourth-seeded Hixson Lady Wildcats had a game worth remembering as they rallied to beat third-seeded Red Bank by a 45-40 in the first game of the day.
But Soddy Daisy won for the 15th straight game as they raced to a 13-0 lead and never looked back as they defeated the Lady Eagles for the third time this season.
Soddy Daisy and Signal Mountain will both be at home on Friday to host first-round region games while Hixson and Red Bank will both be traveling.
Soddy Daisy coach Katie Wright grew up watching the Tennessee Lady Vols as her mother played for the late, great Pat Summitt. Not many people know this, but young Katie celebrated her 11th birthday at Summitt’s house. So it’s easy to see where Wright’s influence for playing solid defense came from as that was a key factor in Tuesday’s big win.
“Our offense got us started on the right track, but defense was ultimately the key for us,” Wright said after her team had improved to 23-7.
“It wasn’t our best game by any stretch, but we just wanted to win and I’m glad we were able to do that. This is what we’ve worked for all season and I’m extremely proud as we played hard the entire time,” Wright smiled.
Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell is also a big believer in defense and was quick to say that her team’s lack of it really hurt.
“We certainly didn’t play good defense and didn’t rebound very well either,” Bell said after her team’s record dropped to 10-18 for the season.
“We also had way too many turnovers, but the best news is that we get to play here at home again on Friday,” she ended on a positive note.
Laura Jenkins scored 16 points to lead the Soddy Daisy effort, including the first six that allowed the Lady Trojans to build a 13-0 lead before the Lady Eagles called a timeout.
Keira Bohman swished a couple of 3s at the end as the Soddy Daisy lead was 18-6 when the first quarter ended.
Becca Rogers sank two free throws, Lucy Provensha added another and then Evelyn Nelson converted two straight layups to get the Lady Eagles within five at 18-13 with 3:11 left before halftime, but Hannah Patterson came off the bench and scored all seven of her points in the final two and a half minutes to keep the Lady Trojans comfortably ahead 25-15 at the break.
With Jenkins adding seven more in the third, Soddy Daisy had its biggest lead at 13 points when the third quarter ended.
Tessa Roberson and Callie Cooper scored back-to-back buckets to start the fourth as Signal cut the lead to nine at 34-25, but it never got any closer as Soddy Daisy made five of eight free throws in the last five minutes to maintain the lead and secure the win.
Jenkins had 16 points to lead Soddy Daisy while Gabby Spencer and Patterson were next with seven apiece. Bohman was tops for Signal with eight points while Rogers and Nelson both finished with six each.
With Spencer grabbing nine rebounds and Jenkins six, Soddy Daisy had an unofficial 25-22 edge on the boards. Roberson grabbed six and Rogers four to lead the Lady Eagles.
HIXSON 45, RED BANK 40: A great start and an even better finish provided the margin of victory for Hixson as they battled the Lady Lions for all they were worth before winning by five.
The Lady Wildcats had a 12-9 lead when the first quarter ended, but fell behind as Red Bank had the upper hand at 24-19 at intermission. Hixson cut that lead to 30-29 with one quarter remaining before outscoring Red Bank 16-10 in the final eight minutes.
Gracie Quarles scored eight points in that first quarter and finished with 16 to lead the Lady Wildcats while Abby Kaylor sank several key free throws at the end and finished with nine points. Journey Holloway and Malika Odom finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Red Bank.
GIRLS CONSOLATION SUMMARY
HIXSON 12 7 10 16 -- 45
RED BANK 9 15 6 10 -- 40
HIXSON (45) – K. Collier 8, Killian 4, Lee, Douglas, White, Gracie Quarles 16, Pollock, Kaylor 9, Beach 6, D. Collier 2.
RED BANK (40) – Johnson, Wiley 2, Davis, Burton, Duer, Houston 7, Tatum, Erwin 2, Bullock, Malika Odom 12, Journey Holloway 14, Podhmitz 3.
3-POINT GOALS: Hixson 3 (Quarles 2, Killian); Red Bank 3 (Houston, Holloway, Podhmitz).
GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 6 9 6 8 -- 29
SODDY DAISY 18 7 9 7 -- 41
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN (29) – Cooper 2, Roberson 4, Rogers 6, Nelson 6, Bohman 8, Provensha 3.
SODDY DAISY (41) – Edmondson, Ward, Laura Jenkins 16, Spencer 7, Renfro, Rutherford 6, Stewart 2, Faires, Patterson 7.
3-POINT GOALS: Signal Mountain 2 (Bohman 2); Soddy Daisy 4 (Rutherford 2, Patterson, Jenkins).
GIRLS ALL-DISTRICT REGULAR SEASON: Leah Collier, Gracie Quarles (Hixson); Journey Holloway (Red Bank); Callie Cooper, Tessa Roberson (Signal Mountain); Gabby Spencer, Aubrey Renfro, Gourney Stewart and MVP Emma Rutherford (Soddy Daisy); Coach of the Year: Katie Wright (Soddy Daisy).
GIRLS ALL-TOURNAMENT: Leah Collier, Gracie Quarles (Hixson); Malika Odom, Journey Holloway (Red Bank); Tessa Roberson, Evelyn Nelson, Lucy Provensha (Signal Mountain); Laura Jenkins, Emma Rutherford, Gabby Spencer (Soddy Daisy).
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)