The Alcoa Tornadoes faced the Westview Chargers in a TSSAA Class 2A state tournament semifinal at Murphy Center on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Westview girls won 44-32. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO – Alcoa High School junior guard Macie Ridge kind of expected the rims inside MTSU’s Murphy Center to be a bit more receptive to the Lady Tornadoes in their second go-around there this week.
After shooting 31.4 percent from the floor Tuesday in a quarterfinal win, Ridge and the Lady Tornadoes sort of felt like the law of averages would balance out things in the semifinals against Westview.
“I definitely expected that we’d shoot a little better,” she said Thursday night, “because we shot horrible against Westmoreland.”
And for a short spell Thursday they did.
But Alcoa scored just 19 points combined over the final three quarters at the Murphy Center against Martin Westview and fell 44-32. The Lady Tornadoes, who had hopes of reaching the state final for the first time since 1984, shot 26.2 percent from the floor and made just two of 17 tries from the 3-point line against Westview (31-2).
“Obviously, we would have liked to have shot better than we did tonight,” said Alcoa coach David Baumann.
To begin realizing your financial future with resources that fit both you and your values, click on the Thrivent logo above.
Ridge led all Alcoa scorers with 13 points and seven rebounds. She was 5-for-15 shooting and made her first 3-point attempt of the night.
She nailed that with 5 minutes, 47 seconds left in the first, and Alcoa (23-13) built a 13-5 lead in the early going.
Karli Haworth made two foul shots with 7:25 left in the first half that put Alcoa ahead 15-9.
But from there, the Alcoa offense got frosty.
Alcoa finished with two points in the second quarter, went 0-for-9 from the floor and trailed 19-15 at half.
Despite that, Alcoa coach Baumann offered his team perspective at the half, that they were fortunate to only trail by four amidst those shooting woes.
His girls listened and responded. Ridge scored five points in a 7-2 run to start the third quarter for Alcoa, which regained the lead 22-21.
Alcoa’s 6-foot-2 post Amelia Pfeiffer picked up her fourth foul with 5:50 left in the third.
Westview took command from there, though, using an 8-1 run the final four minutes of the third to take a 29-23 lead into the fourth.
Ridge’s 3 with 5:34 remaining cut Westview’s lead to six (31-25).
But Westview quickly pushed it back into double digits.
Alcoa had no answer, going 7-for-24 from the floor in the second half. Haworth went 0-for-11 shooting. Eden Davis was 1-for-4. Ainsley Pfeiffer 1-for-4.
The athleticism and length of Westview took its toll.
“(Haworth) is tough to guard. We did a good job on her tonight. I thought we smothered her up a little bit. And No. 5 (Ridge) — We tried to go into it tonight and say, ‘We got to limit their touches.’ Make sure we could double them up a little bit,” said Westview coach Brian Haskins. “One of them had 13 points. The other had two.
“When you do that, it gives us a chance to win.”
Westview’s Jada Harrison, a Miss Basketball finalist, finished with 25 points. Westview’s 6-2 forward Angelina Barr had 12 rebounds, two blocks and six points.
Westview will play York (28-6) in the state championship at 11 a.m. Central time at MTSU.
As for Alcoa, it returns its entire team, save for Davis. Mak Bremer, a junior, should return healthy from the injury she suffered at season’s start and contribute heavily in 2022-23.
And Baumann said a strong freshman class should help bolster the Alcoa program.
If they make it back to Murfreesboro, perhaps the experience this week will pay off.
“You have to adjust to the environment and learn from it. Obviously, we didn’t shoot it well this week, especially me,” said Haworth.
“And, you just have to learn to play in different gyms.”
5STAR PHOTOS: Alcoa Lady Tornadoes vs. Westview – March 10, 2022