Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Cookeville Lady Cavs used a big run in the third and fourth quarters to roll Gallatin on Monday 61-32.
CHS started out hot on offense, knocking down a trio of three-pointers to help build an 18-8 lead heading into the second quarter. There, the Lady Cavs took a 20-10 lead, but quickly saw Gallatin cut it down to 20-16 just over halfway into the period.
Cookeville close the half out in a positive way, scoring seven of the last nine points in the frame to take a 27-18 lead into the locker room. Senior Bailey Gillies drilled a three with four seconds remaining to cap the run.
The third quarter is where the game got out of hand. Leading 41-28 after a Gallatin three, the Lady Cavs proceeded to go on an 18-0 run spanning the end of the third and start of the fourth quarter to push the lead as high as 59-28.
This allowed the Lady Cavs to pull the starters a little early and cruise to the finish line, as they took down Gallatin 61-32 to advance to the region championship game.
KK Graves led the way with 15 points for Cookeville, while Cassie Gallagher added 13 points. Gillies finished with 11 for head coach Jamie Gillies.
“I’m so proud of them,” Gillies said. “I’m proud of our toughness and all of that stuff we do well…they’re just so for each other, and it makes me so proud to be their coach because they want it so bad, and they showed it tonight.”
Senior Emma Webb also scored eight points off the bench for the Lady Cavs, a contribution that didn’t go unnoticed by Gillies.
“She has got to be the best sixth man in the state, and she’s fine in that role,” Gillies said. “She just played really well, I was proud of the way she came in…she’s like an assistant on the bench when she’s over there with me, but she played some big-time minutes tonight.”
The difference in the game proved to be the big run in the third and fourth quarters, and though the offense did the scoring, Gillies says she was impressed the most with the defensive effort.
“We got big stops, and then we turned that into offense,” Gillies said. “They just stepped up and made shots. They don’t care who scores it, they shared it. It doesn’t matter, they just want to win.”
Cookeville will take on Beech in the region title game on Wednesday at 7 P.M. at Hendersonville High School.
