Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Upperman Lady Bees are moving on in the region tournament, as they took down Tullahoma 44-36 on Friday night.
The game started out as defensive slugfest, but it was the Lady Bees who took a 13-9 lead into the second quarter. There, Upperman opened up the quarter with seven unanswered points to push the lead to 20-9.
The Lady Wildcats battled back however, as they scored 10 of the quarter’s final 12 points to trim the deficit down to just 22-19 at the halftime break.
Tullahoma took an early lead in the third quarter, but Upperman’s defense allowed them to take a 32-28 lead heading into the final frame.
The Lady Wildcats continued to battle, knocking down a three-pointer with 2:53 remaining in the game to cut the Lady Bee lead down to just one at 37-36. That was the last time Tullahoma scored however, as the UHS defense locked down during that final three-minute stretch to earn the 44-36 victory.
Abigail Johnson led the way with 14 points for the Lady Bees, while Brooklyn Crouch added 10 points for head coach Dana McWilliams.
“I thought we beat a really good team,” McWilliams said. “That’s probably as tough a first-round region game as we’ve had here in a long time.”
The first big test for the Lady Bees was in the second quarter, as they had to withstand a big run from the Lady Wildcats that got them back in the game. McWilliams credited her kids for not straying from the gameplay in the midst of that run.
“We knew good teams would make a run,” McWilliams said. “So that’s not surprising…we just stayed the course and kept working defensively. We didn’t feel like we played as well in the second quarter, it just didn’t feel as good.”
Defense is ultimately what won the game for Upperman, as they held Tullahoma scoreless for the final 2:53 of game-time. It’s nothing new for the Lady Bees, as their success all season has been built at the defensive end of the floor.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to do all year is focus on our defense,” McWilliams said. “When we had a timeout there, I told them if we were going to win the game, it was going to have to be at the defensive end. We put them on the free-throw line too many times tonight and that’s not typical of what we do…so hopefully we clean that up before Monday.”
The Lady Bees will now take on Livingston Academy on Monday at Tullahoma in the region semifinals.
