Upperman, Livingston Advance to District 7-3A Girls Championship

By Michael Lindsay

 

Saturdays’s District 7-3A girls semifinal games went to the higher seeds as #1 Livingston Academy and #2 Upperman won their respective matchups at Tennessee Tech University, setting them up for another showdown in Tuesday’s championship game.

Upperman defeated Cumberland County, 40-30, on Saturday while Livingston Academy defeated White County 62-52.

 

Upperman vs. Cumberland County

Saturday’s first semifinal matchup saw UC #3 Upperman (27-3) overcome an early 9-point deficit to defeat UC #5 Cumberland County (22-8), 40-30.

“Cumberland County is a really good team so that’s a good win for us,” said Upperman head coach Dana McWilliams. “I think we played pretty well. The first half was a struggle with both teams trying to figure each other out. A lot of the games in the tournament work out that way.”

Lady Bee senior Jayla Cobb led her team with 13 points. Cobb also hit a career milestone on Saturday as she scored her 1,000th career point.

“We had a big celebration in the locker room afterward and we couldn’t be more proud,” McWilliams said. “She had zero idea and was in total shock. Just last week she got her 500th assist.”

Upperman center and Class 3A Miss Basketball finalist Abigail Johnson posted 11 points and 9 rebounds. Cumberland County was led by 11 points from University of the Cumberlands signee Emery Baragona.

A low-scoring start saw the teams tied at 4 points apiece with 3 minutes left in the opening period. Cumberland County found the bottom of the net late in the first period as three-pointers by Abby Houston and Jorja Anderson gave the Lady Jets a 10-4 lead at the end of the opening quarter.

With Upperman’s Abigail Johnson on the bench with two fouls, the Lady Jets took advantage early in the second period as they pushed their lead to 13-4 via a Jalynn Baldwin and-one finish with 7:19 left until halftime.

That basket would be Cumberland County’s last of the first half as the Lady Bees shut out Cumberland County for the final 7:19 of the second quarter. Upperman posted 8 points of their own in the second period to trail 13-12 at halftime.

Upperman retook the lead on their first possession of the third quarter as a Cobb finished a euro-step for an and-one to give the Lady Bees a 15-13 lead.

The teams traded baskets through the first 4 minutes of the third period before two Johnson free throws gave Upperman their first two-possession lead of the game (21-17) with 3:36 left in the third period.

The Lady Bees entered the fourth period with a 25-19 advantage over Cumberland County. Upperman quickly grew their lead to 8 points (27-19) via a Bella Mullins transition layup less than 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.

Cumberland County cut Upperman’s lead to 4 points (29-25) via an Aliyah Hawkins layup with 2:57 remaining.

After trading baskets, the Lady Bees held a 31-27 lead until Johnson finished an and-one with 2:12 left to put her team up 34-27.

Baragona answered with an and-one with 1:58 left to cut the deficit to 34-30, but the Lady Jets would get no closer as Upperman scored the game’s final 6 points from the free-throw line to win by a 40-30 final.

Upperman advances to Tuesday’s District 7-3A championship game where they’ll face a familiar foe in Livingston Academy. The two split their regular-season meetings with each winning on the other’s home floor. LA won in Baxter, 47-38, on Jan. 13 before Upperman won at Livingston on Feb. 7, 51-45.

Cumberland County will face White County on Tuesday in the consolation round. CCHS swept White County this season.

 

Upperman (40): Jayla Cobb 13, Abigail Johnson 11, Gracie Butler 9, Taylor Dolente 5, Bella Mullins 2

 

Cumberland County (30): Emery Baragona 11, Jalynn Baldwin 7, Abby Houston 5, Jorja Anderson 5, Aliyah Hawkins 2

 

Livingston Academy vs. White County

Tuesday’s second District 7-3A girls semifinal game saw district MVP Ellie Butler drop 26 points to lead Livingston Academy to a 62-52 win over White County. LA trailed by as many as 8 points in the first half and 6 in the fourth quarter before pulling away to win by 10.

Along with 26 from Butler, Keely Mullins hit double figures for the Lady Wildcats with 12 points. Celeste Reed led White County with 18 points along with 13 by Nia Powers and 12 from KK McDonald.

Livingston Academy closed out a high-scoring first quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 17-16 lead over Sparta.

The Lady ‘Cats pushed their lead to 24-19 with 5:41 remaining in the second period via a pair of Mallie-Gene Coleman free throws. White County turned up their offensive intensity from there as they outscored Livingston Academy 15-3 over the next 5:30 to lead 34-27 with less than 10 seconds left until halftime.

However, Butler would give LA a sliver of momentum going into the locker room as she sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to cut White County’s lead to 34-30 at halftime. The Warriorettes led by as many as 8 points (34-26) in the first half.

Livingston opened the second half with 5 quick points to take a 35-34 advantage over Sparta via a Woody three-pointer with 5:53 remaining in the third period.

After trading leads for most of the third quarter, White County pushed their advantage out to 5 points (45-40) with 1:36 left in the quarter via a three-pointer from Karley Gentry and a transition layup by Reed. Halle Ledbetter made a pair of free throws with 45 seconds left in the third to make the score 45-42 Sparta entering the fourth quarter.

Gentry sank another three-pointer early in the fourth quarter to put the Warriorettes up 48-42 with 6:55 remaining. Livingston quickly answered with a Butler and-one to trim the deficit to 48-45. LA senior Aleaha Melton followed Butler’s basket with a putback and and-one of her own to give the Lady ‘Cats a 50-48 lead with 5:20 remaining.

LA held a 52-49 lead with 2:54 remaining before two Mullins free throws put the Lady ‘Cats up 54-49.

White County would get no closer than 6 points in the final 2 minutes as Livingston Academy closed out strong to defeat the Warriorettes, 62-52. Butler scored 11 fourth-quarter points for LA as the Livingston outscored Sparta 20-7 in the final period.

Livingston’s win sets up Tuesday’s District 7-3A championship rematch as the Lady Wildcats face Upperman at 7:30 p.m. at Tennessee Tech. The teams split their regular-season meetings.

White County will face Cumberland County in the consolation round. CCHS swept Sparta in the regular season.

 

Livingston Academy (62): Ellie Butler 26, Keely Mullins 12, Halle Ledbetter 9, Mallie-Gene Coleman 8, Aleaha Melton 7

 

White County (52): Celeste Reed 18, Nia Powers 13, KK McDonald 12, Karli Gentry 6, Bella Winningham 3

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