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MURFREESBORO — Bartlett girls basketball snapped at Oak Ridge's heels all game.
For the 27 minutes that passed between its last first-quarter lead and the team's timeout with 19 seconds remaining in Thursday's TSSAA girls basketball state quarterfinal, Bartlett hadn't quite been able to catch the Wildcats.
But with the game tied at 50, coach Wes Shappley turned to a familiar play.
Akya Woods, inbounding the ball in front of the Bartlett bench, lobbed the ball perfectly across the court into the hands of Faye Williams. The junior confidently banked in the shot, slapping her hands in celebration as she sealed a 52-50 victory, sending Bartlett (24-11) to the Class 4A semifinals for the third season in a row.
Bartlett will face the winner of Cookeville and Lincoln County on Friday at 7:15 p.m. at MTSU's Murphy Center.
"We run it so much, so we knew what to do," Williams said after the game. "It feels wonderful."
The play was similar to an out-of-bounds play Bartlett ran to tie the game at 50 – a lob from Woods to Zoey Rixter. Bartlett pressed its height advantage all game. Oak Ridge coach Paige Taylor knew what was coming at the end of the game, but there was little she or her team could do to stop it.
"It's a fantastic luxury," Shappley said of the height on his roster, which features five 6-footers. "Somebody told Roy Williams, 'You win because you have talent.' When you got athletes, it's great. A kid like Zoey to be able to grab it and finish all in one motion, it's pretty special."
Williams' game-winning bucket capped a stellar second half, as the 6-2 junior finished with a game-high 16 points (8-of-11 shooting) to go with six rebounds and two blocks. After Oak Ridge (30-4) opened up a three-point halftime advantage to eight points with 3:52 remaining in the third, Williams responded with six consecutive points.
Shappley didn't share what he told Williams after scoring just two points in the first half, but Williams provided the gist. In Williams' words, he told her to "get it together."
"I can't tell you what I told her at halftime, but it worked," Shappley said. "She turned it up another notch. She had an excellent second half."
Bartlett's previous experience at the state tournament and the team's immense depth were added advantages on Thursday. Eleven players saw action and eight scored points. Junior forward Samiya Jones was second in scoring with 13 points.
"I tell our kids all the time, don't take this for granted, because it's not guaranteed," Shappley said. "Fortunately, we've had enough kids that have been here enough, watched other kids be successful, and been successful themselves to understand the game goes 32 minutes. You settle down, you'll be alright."
Just as his players relied on their previous experience to win Thursday's game, Shappley will rely on his staff and his team's brand of basketball as it looks toward Friday. Shappley said he committed most of his time before the tournament scouting Oak Ridge, but that he trusts he and his staff to form a game plan for it's next opponent.
"'(MTSU coach) Rick Insell said, 'We're gonna dance with the one that brought us,'" Shappley said. "We're gonna play the way we play. Not many people can match out size and our post play and the experience that we've got, and we're gonna rely on those things."
Wendell Shepherd Jr. is The Commercial Appeal's high school sports beat writer. Reach Wendell at [email protected] or on X @wendellsjr_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Bartlett girls uses height in TSSAA basketball state tournament win
Continue reading...
For the 27 minutes that passed between its last first-quarter lead and the team's timeout with 19 seconds remaining in Thursday's TSSAA girls basketball state quarterfinal, Bartlett hadn't quite been able to catch the Wildcats.
But with the game tied at 50, coach Wes Shappley turned to a familiar play.
Akya Woods, inbounding the ball in front of the Bartlett bench, lobbed the ball perfectly across the court into the hands of Faye Williams. The junior confidently banked in the shot, slapping her hands in celebration as she sealed a 52-50 victory, sending Bartlett (24-11) to the Class 4A semifinals for the third season in a row.
Bartlett will face the winner of Cookeville and Lincoln County on Friday at 7:15 p.m. at MTSU's Murphy Center.
"We run it so much, so we knew what to do," Williams said after the game. "It feels wonderful."
The play was similar to an out-of-bounds play Bartlett ran to tie the game at 50 – a lob from Woods to Zoey Rixter. Bartlett pressed its height advantage all game. Oak Ridge coach Paige Taylor knew what was coming at the end of the game, but there was little she or her team could do to stop it.
"It's a fantastic luxury," Shappley said of the height on his roster, which features five 6-footers. "Somebody told Roy Williams, 'You win because you have talent.' When you got athletes, it's great. A kid like Zoey to be able to grab it and finish all in one motion, it's pretty special."
Williams' game-winning bucket capped a stellar second half, as the 6-2 junior finished with a game-high 16 points (8-of-11 shooting) to go with six rebounds and two blocks. After Oak Ridge (30-4) opened up a three-point halftime advantage to eight points with 3:52 remaining in the third, Williams responded with six consecutive points.
Shappley didn't share what he told Williams after scoring just two points in the first half, but Williams provided the gist. In Williams' words, he told her to "get it together."
"I can't tell you what I told her at halftime, but it worked," Shappley said. "She turned it up another notch. She had an excellent second half."
Bartlett's previous experience at the state tournament and the team's immense depth were added advantages on Thursday. Eleven players saw action and eight scored points. Junior forward Samiya Jones was second in scoring with 13 points.
"I tell our kids all the time, don't take this for granted, because it's not guaranteed," Shappley said. "Fortunately, we've had enough kids that have been here enough, watched other kids be successful, and been successful themselves to understand the game goes 32 minutes. You settle down, you'll be alright."
Just as his players relied on their previous experience to win Thursday's game, Shappley will rely on his staff and his team's brand of basketball as it looks toward Friday. Shappley said he committed most of his time before the tournament scouting Oak Ridge, but that he trusts he and his staff to form a game plan for it's next opponent.
"'(MTSU coach) Rick Insell said, 'We're gonna dance with the one that brought us,'" Shappley said. "We're gonna play the way we play. Not many people can match out size and our post play and the experience that we've got, and we're gonna rely on those things."
Wendell Shepherd Jr. is The Commercial Appeal's high school sports beat writer. Reach Wendell at [email protected] or on X @wendellsjr_.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Bartlett girls uses height in TSSAA basketball state tournament win
Continue reading...
