Catholic guard Sydney Mains (24). (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
An airball from the corner. A missed layup. A bricked corner 3.
Sydney Mains couldn’t have envisioned a worse offensive start to the final home game of her storied prep career at Catholic High School.
The senior struggled to get a shot to fall, and the Lady Irish had but two points on the scoreboard with 3 minutes left in the first quarter Friday night against visiting Harpeth Hall.
By game’s end, though, Mains had 30 points, wore a visible smile of relief and ten happily helped cut down the nets at Catholic following the Lady Irish’s 55-37 win in the Division II-AA state quarterfinals in Knoxville.
That means Catholic (25-4) will get a chance next week at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville to defend the first-ever state championship that the program won last season.
It will mark the fourth consecutive trip for the Lady Irish to the Division II-AA state semifinals.
That was very much in doubt for a while Friday against Harpeth Hall (20-12), a team Catholic also faced last season in the penultimate round at Tech.
One of the top workplaces in East Tennessee now 7 years running, SmartBank is the proud sponsor of 5Star Preps postseason basketball coverage.
subscribe to read full article