Maliyah Glasper (23) and the Gatlinburg-Pittman Lady Highlanders took on Loretto in the Class 2A state semifinals on Friday, March 8, 2024, at the Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Photo by Danny Parker).
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO — Trying to make history is never an easy task. The Gatlinburg-Pittman High School girls basketball team can attest to that.
During Friday’s Class 2A State Semifinal against Loretto, the Lady Highlanders held multiple leads and had various opportunities to get to the program’s first-ever state final.
But when sophomore guard Nya Burns’ 3-point shot in the final seconds of overtime was blocked, Gatlinburg-Pittman was left lamenting another chance that got away.
Loretto (29-3) advanced to Saturday’s Class 2A State Championship against Gibson County (37-1) via a 55-52 win over the Lady Highlanders.
“I thought we lost a little poise down the stretch, but it’s really hard to keep your composure when you feel like you’re getting hosed,” G-P coach Katie Moore said.
“The foul count is 11-4 in the second half. We go into overtime, and we never make it to the two-point bonus. Not to mention Maddy (Newman) wasn’t shooting well, but she was also getting a lot of contact down there by the basket. But, for whatever reason, they weren’t calling it on them — but they were calling it on us.”
Loretto was not whistled for a foul in overtime.
Loretto shot 14 free throws in overtime.
Miss Basketball finalist and Tennessee Tech signee Maddy Newman, one of the all-time greats in G-P history, finished her prep career with a 15-point, seven-rebound performance; however, she fouled out with 23 seconds to play in overtime.
She had just two fouls after the fourth quarter.
“Obviously, it’s really sad and it’s really disappointing. I feel like I wasn’t really creating for my team. So that’s obviously really disappointing for me,” Newman said.
“I just feel a lot of grief.”
Ally Weathers led Loretto with 33 points on 10-for-18 shooting, also going 13-for-17 at the free-throw line. She grabbed 16 rebounds and had three blocks, two assists and two steals.
The overtime loss for the Lady Highlanders was the second overtime loss in the state semifinals for them in the last three years. G-P also played in a semifinal in 2017.
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Gatlinburg-Pittman (34-4) led by as many as 11 early in the contest but took a 26-20 lead into half. It maintained a similar margin when Leah Stinnett buried a deep 3 at the top of the key near the midpoint of the third quarter. Loretto had managed to get as close as two points early in the quarter, but Stinnett’s 3 pushed G-P up to a 31-24 lead.
Stinnett, who wound up with 14 points, then made a layup with 4:02 left in the third to move G-P to an eight-point advantage (33-25).
The Lady Highlanders didn’t hold onto that, though.
Loretto knotted the score at 38-all with a quarter to go.
Stinnett struck again 17 seconds in the fourth, burying another 3 to break the tie. Burns followed suit at the 6:35 mark of the fourth to extend G-P’s lead to 44-38.
The Lady Highlanders didn’t hold onto that, either.
Loretto pulled even, at 44-all, with 3:49 to go. It then led by one at both the 2:05 and 1:10 marks in the fourth.
But Stinnett, with a minute to play, made one of two fouls shots to create a 48-48 game.
G-P’s defense then forced a loose ball and tie-up, the possession arrow giving them possession with 30.6 seconds left.
On the final play, Stinnett drove down the right side of the lane and her scoop-right-handed-layup off the glass just missed, sending the game to overtime.
Moore said in postgame she thought Stinnett was fouled.
OVERTIME
Gatlinburg-Pittman drew seven foul calls in overtime, and Loretto took advantage. Weathers was 4 of 4 at the foul line in the first 66 seconds of OT, giving Loretto a 52-48 lead.
Maliyah Glasper made a pair of layups, though, to draw G-P even with Loretto at 52-all with 1:39 to go.
Shockingly, Loretto went 3 of 10 at the free-throw line in the final 1:29.
Gatlinburg-Pittman couldn’t capitalize. It had a shot blocked, a turnover, and a missed layup.
Still, with 18 seconds left, G-P had possession and a chance to tie.
Burns came off a screen to the right wing, but the screener didn’t hold off the defender long enough. Loretto’s lengthy junior guard Ally Weathers stretched out her left arm and blocked Burns’ attempt.
“We definitely had some opportunities down the stretch in overtime,” Moore said. “Maliyah missed a layup. I feel like she got shoved in the back down there. They didn’t call it.
‘We definitely should have capitalized on all the missed (Loretto) free throws and missed opportunities. We try to draw up a play for a 3-point shot at the end and don’t execute correctly. A lot of things we did incorrectly, but it’s just tough when you know we worked so hard to get where we were.”
FIRST HALF
You never know what can spark a run. In Gatlinburg-Pittman’s case, that lift came at the foul line.
Newman hit two free throws at the end of the first quarter for an 11-10 lead and her two early in the second quarter trigged a 10-2 run that featured 3s by Burns and Graycee Valentine.
Newman’s score in the paint with 5:10 remaining in the half gave the Lady Highlanders a 21-12 advantage.
G-P kept the full-court defensive pressure turned on, forcing nine turnovers before the break. Trinity Whaley’s steal at the 2:38 mark of the second was relayed up to Glasper for a 6-foot jumper in the lane and 25-14 lead.
Loretto shot just 31.8 percent in the first half and rarely turned G-P over.
G-P also shot an identical 7-for-22 clip from the floor in the first half but converted nine of 14 free throws en route to a 26-20 advantage with two quarters remaining.
They just never were afforded the opportunity to to get to the line late.
“I’m just extremely proud (of the win),” Loretto coach Ashley Rutledge said. “All week we heard, ‘When you get to Gatlinburg-Pittman, if you get past the first round, they’re probably going to be a little too much for you to handle.’
“I never doubted these girls for a second.”
5STAR PHOTOS powered by SmartBank — Gatlinburg-Pittman vs. Loretto (Class 2A state semis)