Clarkrange-Red Boiling Springs

The Clarkrange Lady Buffaloes took home third place in District 7-A after defeating Red Boiling Springs 43-22 in the consolation game on Monday.

Sidney Massengille drilled a pair of threes to help kick-start an 8-0 run for the Lady Bulldogs to open the game, but Macie Threet knocked down two long-range shots of her own to help the Lady Buffaloes take a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter.

This is where the CHS defense locked in, as they allowed just two points on a pair of Dee Polk free throws en route to nabbing an 18-10 halftime advantage.

The third quarter saw the Lady Buffaloes begin to extend the lead, thanks to six points in the quarter from Lydia Phillips, and by the time the fourth quarter rolled around, it was Clarkrange who held a 29-16 lead.

From there, the Lady Buffaloes continued to rely on their defense and allowed just one field goal after the first quarter, as they cruised to the finish-line 43-22 over the Lady Bulldogs.

Phillips led all scorers with 14 points for Clarkrange, while Massengille finished with 10 points to pace RBS.

Red Boiling Springs will now travel to East Robertson on Friday night for their region quarterfinal, while Clarkrange will head to Jo Byrns.

Pickett County-Clay County

The Pickett County Lady Bobcats took the first step in their march towards the State Tournament, as they defeated Clay County 69-57 in the 7-A Championship.

Clay County held all the momentum early, as a Halle Buford three got the proceedings started and helped give the Lady Bulldogs an early 11-2 lead. Pickett answered right back with an 11-2 run of their own to tie the game at 13 however, and Callie Reeder’s three at the buzzer gave the Lady Bobcats a 16-15 lead to start the second.

There, both teams continued to trade blows back-and-forth, but it was back-to-back threes from Buford and Natalie Smith that seemingly gave Clay all the momentum and a 28-23 lead. The Lady Bobcats closed the first half on a 10-5 run to tie the score at 33-all at the half.

Emmy Lowe’s 15 first-half points kept Clay from extending the lead too much, and the third quarter is where she really took the game over. Her 10 points in the quarter helped lead the Lady Bobcats to a 53-50 lead at the end of the third, and from there, Pickett closed the game on a 16-7 run to win the district championship 69-57.

Lowe finished with a stellar 33 points and 13 assists to lead all, while Reeder finished with 14 points of her own. Addie Low added a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double off the bench for the Lady Bobcats.

Lowe was also named the Tournament MVP.

Bella Ashlock led Clay with 18 points, while Madison Hayes added 14.

For Pickett head coach Brent Smith, it wasn’t the most ideal start to the game for his team, but he was proud of how they battled and ultimately, how they accomplished their first major goal of the season.

“Not a good start, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” Smith said. “Emmy Lowe put us on her back. She took 22 shots, and we challenge her to take 20 shots a game. You see how that worked out for us…that’s what makes us good, we’ve got several kids that can score. Sometimes it’ll be your night, sometimes it won’t. Tonight, it was Emmy’s.”

The Lady Bobcats are supposed to take on Knowledge Academies in the region quarterfinals on Friday, while Clay will host Merrol Hyde. For Smith, the district championship is a great accomplishment, but it’s not the end of the job by any means.

“We’ve got two more steps to go in this deal,” Smith said. “We want to win the region tournament and then win the state tournament. We want to get there, but we don’t want to just get there, we feel like we’ve got a chance to take the whole thing. That’s what we expect.”