by Rusty Ellis
Photo by Ben Craven / Herald-Citizen
The Cookeville Lady Cavs are Region 5-4A champions after their dominant 50-25 win over Green Hill on Wednesday night.
“It feels really good, when we came to Cookeville, this is what we wanted to do,” said CHS head coach Jamie Gillies. “So many people throughout this tournament told us ‘your team is so fun to watch and they’re so fundamental,’ and they’re fun to coach. It’s fun to see them get that win and to be able to advance and get another home game for our seniors.”
Cookeville had to battle in the first half, as they held just a 13-6 lead heading into the second quarter. The Lady Cavs appeared poised to run away with the game in the second, but a Green Hill triple at the buzzer cut the CHS lead down to just 22-15 at the half.
The Lady Cavs managed to pull away in the third quarter though, using a 17-2 advantage to push the lead to 39-17 and it was smooth-sailing to the region title from there, as Cookeville took down the Lady Hawks 50-25.
Cassie Gallagher led the way with 17 points for the Lady Cavs, while Tournament MVP Jordan Gillies added 11 points of her own. The two of them were named to the All-Tournament Team, alongside Allie Gillies.
The run in the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game, as Gillies says she knew that Green Hill would try to slow the tempo.
“We knew their game-plan would be to slow us down,” Gillies said. “We just said ‘we’re just going to defend and keep doing what we’re doing and take good shots.’ Once we see the ball go in a few times, it’s good and our defense just amps up from our offense.”
The Lady Cavs will now host Hillsboro for their substate game on Saturday, and Gillies knows how important it is to get a win-or-go-home game at home.
“I’ve not seen either of these teams,” Gillies said about the Lady Cavs’ potential matchups. “Green Hill played both of them, so we’ll get some film from them, and we’ve got two days to prepare.”