By Jacob Vinson
The Cookeville Lady Cavaliers topped Lebanon in the girls District 7-4A championship Monday night 51-36 to win their second straight district tournament championship.
“Lebanon is such a good team, and it’s hard to beat a good team three times,” said Cookeville head coach Jamie Gillies. “We have to make sure we come in focused and be the tougher team, and in the first half I don’t think we were.”
Senior forward Isabel Garcia was named the tournament MVP with two double-doubles; 19 points and 11 rebounds in the semifinals vs. Wilson Central followed by 15 points and 11 rebounds in the championship against Lebanon.
Cookeville trailed 10-9 after the first quarter and was down by as many as 7 in the second before a quick 4-0 run from Macy Hudson cut the Lebanon lead to 3 points (20-17) at halftime.
“In the first half we weren’t very patient,” said Gillies. “The referees let us play, which is what we want, but we had to adjust to that.”
Cookeville’s offense came to life in the third period, outscoring Lebanon 19-12 in the frame to take a 4 point lead at 36-32.
The Lady Cavs’ defense stepped up in the fourth quarter, only allowing four Lebanon points as Cookeville hit 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth to ice the game away and win by a 51-36 final score.
“We got some shots to fall and got what we wanted,” said Gillies. “We’re excited and we get to play at home next week.”
Cookeville improves to 25-3 and will host riverdale Friday night at 7 p.m. to open the Region 4-4A quarterfinals.