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MURFREESBORO — Not only did Cookeville girls basketball fans take up two full sections of the Murphy Center on Thursday, they owned the building's walls too.
Supporters from across the Upper Cumberland cheered the Cavaliers during their Class 4A quarterfinal against Lincoln County with massive signs reading slogans like "Have no fear, the Cavs are here" and plenty of smaller ones, personalized for members of the team. Behind the basket, around 100 Cookeville students shouted, chanted and hung on every rebound and layup.
Just four years ago, Cookeville had never won a game at the TSSAA girls basketball state tournament. On Thursday, the Cavaliers looked at home. They believe their reputation precedes them — and they played with that same confidence, beating the Falcons 49-37 to advance to Friday's semifinal against Bartlett (7:15 p.m.).
"I feel like people know who we are," said Cookeville coach Jamie Gillies. "I still think it's a little bit of a fight. We laugh, because we get put in different districts every time there's a realignment. We're a big 4A school in the middle of no other 4A schools, so they don't really know where to put us. We just like to rise to the top."
If no one quite knows what to make of Cookeville in a geographic sense, that couldn't be less true on the basketball court. The Cavaliers (25-7) have gone 114-18 over the last four seasons, a stretch which includes two district championships, three region titles and three state tournament appearances.
Cookeville has now reached the semifinals in all three of those appearances. But doing so Thursday wasn't easy. The Cavaliers trailed for much of the first half against the hot-shooting Falcons (25-9), who had beaten them 69-56 at a tournament in December.
MORE: TSSAA girls basketball state tournament brackets, schedule, scores for 2025 championships
"I really never felt like we were gonna lose," Gillies said. "This team never quits. They were down six or seven, and I just knew our defense was gonna get stops, we just had to find a way to put the ball in the basket."
Enter Cara Gilbert and Charlie Roby. The junior guards combined for 34 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and led the charge for Cookeville as it outscored Lincoln County 30-13 during the second and third quarters. Forwards Macy Hudson and Callie Reeder brought steel down low and helped the Cavaliers outrebound the Falcons 38-21; meanwhile, they allowed only one 3-pointer over the last three quarters.
"I think we're better than when we played them," said Lincoln County coach Chad Tipps. "But they got better too. Their guards are really hard to guard."
Last season, the Cookeville boys basketball team reached the Class 4A state championship game in its first tournament appearance since 1954, bringing massive crowds of supporters to Murfreesboro. Gillies said that Cookeville mayor Laurin Wheaton has challenged Cavaliers fans to break last season's attendance record this week. A semifinal breakthrough could go a long way towards granting that wish.
Is this year's Cookeville team capable of that? Gilbert believes so, and she has her reasons.
"We're a family," she said. "We spend every time (together), besides basketball, after practice, we'll go eat, we'll just spend time, talk nonstop. And we're all for each other on the court."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [email protected] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA girls basketball tournament 2025: Why Cookeville is at home
Continue reading...
Supporters from across the Upper Cumberland cheered the Cavaliers during their Class 4A quarterfinal against Lincoln County with massive signs reading slogans like "Have no fear, the Cavs are here" and plenty of smaller ones, personalized for members of the team. Behind the basket, around 100 Cookeville students shouted, chanted and hung on every rebound and layup.
Just four years ago, Cookeville had never won a game at the TSSAA girls basketball state tournament. On Thursday, the Cavaliers looked at home. They believe their reputation precedes them — and they played with that same confidence, beating the Falcons 49-37 to advance to Friday's semifinal against Bartlett (7:15 p.m.).
"I feel like people know who we are," said Cookeville coach Jamie Gillies. "I still think it's a little bit of a fight. We laugh, because we get put in different districts every time there's a realignment. We're a big 4A school in the middle of no other 4A schools, so they don't really know where to put us. We just like to rise to the top."
If no one quite knows what to make of Cookeville in a geographic sense, that couldn't be less true on the basketball court. The Cavaliers (25-7) have gone 114-18 over the last four seasons, a stretch which includes two district championships, three region titles and three state tournament appearances.
Cookeville has now reached the semifinals in all three of those appearances. But doing so Thursday wasn't easy. The Cavaliers trailed for much of the first half against the hot-shooting Falcons (25-9), who had beaten them 69-56 at a tournament in December.
MORE: TSSAA girls basketball state tournament brackets, schedule, scores for 2025 championships
"I really never felt like we were gonna lose," Gillies said. "This team never quits. They were down six or seven, and I just knew our defense was gonna get stops, we just had to find a way to put the ball in the basket."
Enter Cara Gilbert and Charlie Roby. The junior guards combined for 34 points, 14 rebounds and six assists and led the charge for Cookeville as it outscored Lincoln County 30-13 during the second and third quarters. Forwards Macy Hudson and Callie Reeder brought steel down low and helped the Cavaliers outrebound the Falcons 38-21; meanwhile, they allowed only one 3-pointer over the last three quarters.
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"I think we're better than when we played them," said Lincoln County coach Chad Tipps. "But they got better too. Their guards are really hard to guard."
Last season, the Cookeville boys basketball team reached the Class 4A state championship game in its first tournament appearance since 1954, bringing massive crowds of supporters to Murfreesboro. Gillies said that Cookeville mayor Laurin Wheaton has challenged Cavaliers fans to break last season's attendance record this week. A semifinal breakthrough could go a long way towards granting that wish.
Is this year's Cookeville team capable of that? Gilbert believes so, and she has her reasons.
"We're a family," she said. "We spend every time (together), besides basketball, after practice, we'll go eat, we'll just spend time, talk nonstop. And we're all for each other on the court."
Jacob Shames can be reached by email at [email protected] and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA girls basketball tournament 2025: Why Cookeville is at home
Continue reading...
