By Michael Lindsay
The UC #2-ranked Cookeville Lady Cavaliers are district tournament champions for the first time since 2013 following Monday night’s 61-34 victory over Green Hill in the District 9-4A title game.
“I’m super proud of them,” said Cookeville head coach Jamie Gillies. “We played really well tonight; it was a complete team effort. On the defensive end, I think everybody that played got some kind of deflection or steal. They did the things we work on every day.”
Cookeville (26-4) has won 14 of their last 15 games and won their two district tournament games by an average of 33.5 points.
Monday’s victory over Green Hill avenges last season’s stunning loss by Cookeville to the Lady Hawks in the district championship game that ended their undefeated 27-0 start.
“I had a couple of players from last year text me and say tonight is revenge night,” Gillies said. “Emma Webb was at the game and she was one of the first people I saw when we came out. Half of my team wasn’t even on the team last year when that happened, but the rest of us have a chip on our shoulder and had some unfinished business.”
Cookeville was led by District 9-4A tournament MVP Isabel Garcia, who posted 14 points and 4 rebounds in the victory.
“Isabel Garcia had a great game,” Gillies said. “She was our high-scorer and tournament MVP. She was a dominant force the whole time.”
Senior point guard Jordan Gillies had 12 points and 7 steals while Cassie Gallagher posted 12 points and 5 assists.
Green Hill opened strong and held a 12-10 lead over Cookeville with 2:45 left in the first quarter. The Lady Cavs put together a quick 6-0 run to take a 16-12 lead before an Aubrey Blankenship buzzer-beater brought Green Hill within a basket to end the period, 16-14.
Cookeville took advantage of the offensive glass early in the second quarter as they pushed their lead out to 26-18 with 4:30 left until halftime thanks in part to 3 offensive rebounds.
Following a Blankenship basket for Green Hill, Cookeville’s Allie Gillies nailed a 3-pointer late in the second period before a Cassie Gallagher buzzer-beating layup put Cookeville up 31-20 at halftime.
Despite the 11-point lead, Cookeville looked to tighten in defensively on Green Hill’s standout forward Aubrey Blankenship, who was single-handedly keeping the Lady Hawks alive.
“They (Green Hill) had 20 points at halftime and Aubrey Blankenship had 17 of them,” Gillies said. “She played really well and we tried to contain her.”
The Lady Cavaliers opened the second half strong on both ends as they went on a 14-2 run to take a 45-22 lead with less than 2 minutes remaining in the third period. Macy Hudson started the run with a jumper followed by a basket and two free throws from both Garcia and Jordan Gillies and layups by Charlie Roby and Allie Gillies.
Cookeville led 45-24 after three periods and cruised through the fourth quarter to win the District 9-4A championship by a 61-34 final score.
Along with Garcia winning tournament MVP, Cassie Gallagher and Jordan Gillies were named all-tournament.
Up next for Cookeville is the Region 5-4A tournament quarterfinals Friday evening as they’ll host District 10-4A #4-seed Station Camp (14-14), who fell to Hendersonville 42-38 in the District 10-4A consolation game on Monday.
“We’ve got three days to get ready for Station Camp,” Gillies said. “We handle the postseason one game at a time, and right now we’re looking at that first round of the region.”
Cookeville (61): Isabel Garcia 14, Cassie Gallagher 12, Jordan Gillies 12, Allie Gillies 7, Macy Hudson 4, Kendyn McCloud 3, Morgan Guffey 3, Cara Lee Gilbert 2, Charley Roby 2, Taniah Dirkson 2