York Institute, Jackson County Girls Advance To Region 3-2A Championship Following Semifinal Victories

By Michael Lindsay

Two trophy cases with plenty of hardware will meet for the Region 3-2A girls championship Wednesday night as York Institute and Jackson County won their respective semifinal matchups on Monday at Monterey High School.

 

Dragonettes Hold Westmoreland To 12 Points En Route to 48-12 Victory

York Institute (26-5) clinched their fifth consecutive region championship appearance Monday night as they ran away with a 48-12 victory over Westmoreland (19-14) in the Region 3-2A semifinals.

“It was a pretty dominating defensive performance,” said York Institute head coach Michael Green. “Any time you can hold a team to 12 points, especially a team like Westmoreland, is big. We knew they wanted to slow us down, and we didn’t want to slow down.”

The Dragonettes were led by 19 points from Iowa State signee Reese Beaty along with 7 from Emma Pile, 6 by Cali Franklin and 5 points each from Raylee Werner, Emma Cooper and Zoey Gibson.

“It took everybody that was on the floor,” said Green. “Any time you’re playing somebody new, you’ve got to be able to adjust on the fly. We didn’t shoot the ball well, but when you’re creating turnovers and getting layups, that makes things a lot easier. Westmoreland is always a solid defensive team.”

York held a 7-3 advantage midway through the first quarter before a Franklin three-pointer followed by transition baskets from Gibson and Beaty gave the Dragonettes a 14-3 lead after one quarter.

The Dragonettes continued their run into the second quarter as they outscored Westmoreland 15-2 in the frame to take a 29-6 lead at halftime.

York grew their advantage to start the second half as they opened the third quarter on an 8-0 run in the opening 2:50 to take a 37-6 lead via a Beaty three-pointer. The Dragonettes cruised from there as they went on to win by a 48-12 final score.

The win clinches York’s fifth consecutive region championship appearance dating back to the 2020-’21 season. York is 2-2 during the stretch and has won the last two.

“Not everybody gets to play in a region championship and a substate,” said Green. “We’re a little spoiled; but you’ve got to enjoy every one of them. What you did last year doesn’t matter.”

York will face Jackson County (16-12) in Wednesday’s championship game, who entered the region tournament as a #4 seed and defeated District 6-2A #1 Liberty Creek in the first round and #2 Smith County in the semifinals. York is 3-o against Jackson County this season.

“We knew Jackson County was much improved this season and would have a chance,” said coach Green. “They’ve got a good core group; it’s a region championship and we’ve got to go play.”

Regardless of Wednesday’s outcome, York will play in the substate round on Saturday with a state tournament berth on the line against either East Nashville or (22-1) or Pearl Cohn (16-7) on Saturday. York has won 4 consecutive substate games, including their previous two over Pearl Cohn in 2024 and East Nashville in 2023.

 

Jackson County Clinches First Region Championship Appearance Since 2016 Via 40-34 Victory Over Smith County

One of the most decorated girls basketball programs in Tennessee is competing for a region championship once again as the Jackson County Lady Blue Devils defeated Smith County in Monday’s Region 3-2A semifinal round at Monterey, 40-34.

“We battled,” said Jackson County head coach Jim Brown, who has 7 state championships with the Lady Devils. “It wasn’t a pretty game from either team; we both know each other so well. Our girls hung in there and kept battling. Our girls could’ve laid down, but they made some big baskets and rebounded well down the stretch.”

Jackson County entered the region tournament as the #4 seed from District 5-2A and traveled to District 6-2A champion Liberty Creek in the first round last Friday, where they won 49-41 to set up Monday’s semifinal game against Smith County with a region championship and substate berth on the line.

“This district is very good,” said Brown. “Obviously, York is on a different level, but the other three teams (Jackson, Smith and Watertown) were close all season long. I knew we’d have a shot.”

Claire Williams led Jackson County with 13 points along with 9 from Jalynn Meadows and 8 from Reece Thomas. Karly Ramsey led Smith County with 12.

“It was a little bit of everybody tonight,” said Brown. “It was a true team effort and everybody followed the game plan.”

A back-and-forth first quarter saw the teams tied 10-10 at the end of the frame. Jackson County took a two-possession lead in the second quarter as a Meadows free throw gave her team an 18-13 advantage with 2 minutes remaining in the second period. The Lady Owls pulled back within one possession by halftime as they trailed 18-15 at the break.

“Both games against them were close in the regular season,” said Brown. “They’ve killed us inside in the past, so tonight we packed it in and tried to take their posts out of it.”

Smith County battled back and took a 20-18 lead early in the third quarter via a Ramsey and-one followed by an Emry Jones steal and layup. The teams traded leads through the rest of the third period until a Kaylee Dixon three-pointer gave Smith County a 25-24 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Jackson County retook the lead early in the fourth quarter as a Thomas corner three-pointer gave the Lady Devils a 27-25 advantage. Smith County battled back to tie the game at 29 with 4:30 left, but Thomas connected on another trey to put her team ahead 32-29.

Following a Meadows free throw, a Dixon putback for the Lady Owls cut Jackson County’s lead to 33-31 with 1:06 remaining.

Jackson County went to work at the free-throw line from there as the Lady Devils connected on 7 of 8 free throws in the final minute to preserve their 40-34 victory over Smith County.

“Claire Williams got to the line late, and we did a great job taking care of the ball,” said Brown.

Up next for Jackson County is Wednesday’s Region 3-2A championship game against York Institute (26-5) at Monterey High School at 7 p.m.

Regardless of Wednesday’s result, Jackson County will play in the Class 2A sectional on Saturday against either East Nashville or (22-1) or Pearl Cohn (16-7). A win Saturday would clinch Jackson County’s 19th state tournament appearance all-time and 13th since 2000.

“Words can’t express it,” said Brown. “We’ve had such a dry run and it’s been a while, but this is a super group of kids and they deserve this.”