State Tournament coverage presented by Risher Roofing
Story by Noah McKay
The Cookeville Lady Cavaliers are returning to a familiar place, the Class 4A state semifinals.
Cookeville overcame a tough opponent and high foul count as they outlasted Page 55-57 Thursday morning at the Murphy Center, advancing to the semifinals for the third time in four seasons.
“Four times in five years,” said CHS head coach Jamie Gillies. “We had a little bit of a shaky start… but after that I knew once we settled in we’d be okay. Our defense was the key to the game.”
The Lady Patriots opened the game on a 10-2 run before Cara Lee Gilbert hit three free throws to make it 12-5. Page stretched the lead to 10 on a three before buckets for Lauren Gillies, Sadie Garrett and Gilbert cut it to 17-12 after the first.
All-UC Freshman Team’s Callie Gilbert found her stride in the second, pouring in eight points as Cookeville entered halftime trailing 25-24.
The officials took over the third quarter, calling 17 total fouls in the frame. Despite the lack of game-flow Cookeville converted at the line 11 times and held Page without a field goal to take a 41-35 lead after three.
Allie Gillies nailed a three with 3:09 to go as part of a 6-0 run as CHS led by 11. The Lady Patriots never got back within eight as the Lady Cavs advanced in the tournament.
“(Page) is so good,” said coach Gillies. “They were bigger than they looked on film so we were outsized. We just talked about how we wanted to defend them late… I said one thing and Cara Lee said ‘let’s do something else’ and I went with her gut and it worked out.”
Cara Lee Gilbert led CHS with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Callie Gilbert tallied 16 points her state tournament debut. Charlie Roby scored eight points with five rebounds. Allie Gillies scored seven points despite playing 12 minutes due to foul trouble. Lauren Gillies scored five with Sadie Garrett adding two. Taniah Dirkson left the game in the second half and did not return.
The Lady Cavs will take on the winner of Bearden vs Bartlett in the Class 4A semifinals. Cookeville is looking to reach the state championship game for the first time in program history. Tipoff is set for 4:00 p.m. and will be audio broadcasted by UCR.
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