REGION 4-1A CHAMPIONS: Gordonsville Wins First Region Championship In Program History Via 43-42 Win Over Jackson County

By Michael Lindsay

The Gordonsville Tigerettes’ (28-4) historic season added some new hardware to the trophy case on Wednesday as they defeated Jackson County 43-42 in the Region 4-1A championship game.

Wednesday’s region title is the first in program history and follows their District 8-1A tournament championship from last week.

“I’m just so proud, especially for my seniors,” said Gordonsville head coach Terri Brock. “We’ve worked really hard for this. We started making a shift in the summer and gained some confidence. This is a goal we set for ourselves; once we learned how to win, the sky was the limit.”

Eighth grader Lanie Foster led the Tigerettes with 15 points along with 9 points from region tournament MVP Mollie Storie. Gordonsville’s Derionna Bell, Lily Brock, Makenzie Herron and Foster were named to the all-tournament team.

Herron, who made the buzzer-beating shot in overtime in the region semifinal victory over Pickett County on Monday, was unavailable in the region championship game due to illness.

“Brooke Burke stepped into that starting role and played good,” said coach Brock. “Obviously my two senior posts, Derionna and Molly, had great games. Lanie knocked down some key shots early that got us going. Our defense is really what won the ball game, though.”

Jalynn Meadows led Jackson County with 14 points followed by 9 from Lyla Smith.

Gordonsville’s win over Jackson County comes 16 days after the Lady Devils defeated the Tigerettes 55-38 to close out the regular season.

“We played Jackson twice this season and they were a difficult matchup for us both times,” said Brock. “Jackson County is a great team, but I knew that we were capable of winning. We stay level and weathered their runs.”

Jackson County led 13-10 after one quarter. A pair of Foster three-pointers led the Tigerettes in the second period as they took a 26-22 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Lady Devils battled back to take a 29-28 lead via a Claire Williams three-pointer with 4:18 remaining in the third period. Gordonsville answered on the ensuing possession as senior Bailey Trusty finished an and-one to retake the lead at 31-29. Gordonsville held a 35-33 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Foster extended the Tigerettes’ lead to 5 points (38-33) to open the final period. Gordonsville led by as many as 8 points (41-33) early in the fourth before the Lady Devils battled back within one possession (43-40) via a Meadows corner three-pointer with 1:24 remaining.

Jackson County forced a turnover on the ensuing possession to retake the ball down 43-40 with 33 seconds left. The Lady Devils got two looks from three-point range in the final 10 seconds, but neither fell as they hit a layup at the buzzer to make the final score 43-42 in favor of Gordonsville.

Gordonsville’s win over Jackson County caps a 3-0 region tournament run by the Tigerettes over District 7-1A foes including Clarkrange, Pickett County and Jackson County.

“They’ve all been great games,” said Brock. “You hate to see someone lose those games. These have been state tournament-caliber opponents and I don’t take that for granted.”

Up next for each team is the Class 1A sectional round on Saturday with a state tournament berth on the line. Jackson County will travel to Region 3-1A champion Van Buren County (27-4) while Gordonsville will host Copper Basin (23-6) at 7 p.m.

“Before I took this job, everybody told me Gordonsville was a special place,” said Brock. “It’s a community that really pours into their athletes and I’m looking forward to that substate environment for our girls.”