Webb School of Knoxville sophomore Meeyah Green.
BY JESSE SMITHEY
COOKEVILLE — Admittedly, head girls basketball coach Greg Hernandez tried to put a little bug in the ear of his star player Meeyah Green ahead of the Webb School of Knoxville’s state semifinal.
Knowing what type of player he had in Green, a sophomore with Power 5 offers, Hernandez made sure to remind her of getting snubbed as a Miss Basketball finalist this season — while Webb’s opponent Thursday had a player who did make the three-person list.
Maybe the coaching tactic worked.
But then again, Green’s motivation is always on Level 10.
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Regardless, she left no doubt Thursday she was the best player on the floor of Tennessee Tech’s Eblen Center, and Green’s game-high 27 points led the Lady Spartans to a comeback victory over Webb-Bell Buckle, 48-41.
Webb Knoxville (21-8) trailed by as many as 10 Thursday but held Bell Buckle to just 15 points in the second half. Webb-Bell Buckle had won three consecutive state championships in Division II-A before moving up to Division II-AA for this season.
Webb School of Knoxville put an end to that title run.
Now, the Lady Spartans will play arch-rival Knoxville Catholic (27-5) at 11 a.m. Central time Saturday in Cookeville for the Division II-AA state championship. Catholic is the defending champion and ousted Christ Presbyterian Academy, 45-40, in a Thursday semifinal.
Catholic is also 3-0 against Webb this season, though the last two games were decided by just five and four points.
Saturday will mark the second time in three years that an All-Knoxville Final will have happened in TSSAA girls basketball. Bearden beat Farragut in the 2022 Class 4A state championship.
For Webb, they return to the title game for the first time since winning a Division II-A championship in 2018.
“We’re going to give them all we got,” Hernandez said of the rematch with Catholic.
“One of us is going to take that gold ball back to Knoxville. Hopefully, it’s the Green and White.”
Webb Knoxville trailed 35-29 to open the fourth Thursday afternoon, as Green’s shooting throughout kept the Lady Spartans within striking distance. Webb got a quick score from Brooklyn Bush to cut the deficit to four points on the opening play of the final quarter.
Green’s drive in from the left wing bounced in for two at the 4:44 mark of the fourth, again cutting the Webb-Bell Buckle advantage to just four.
Her mid-range jumper with 3:16 left finally brought Webb even at 39-all.
Meanwhile, the Webb Knoxville defense flustered and exhausted Bell Buckle the entire second half, and that finally opened the door for the comeback. The Feet had 21 turnovers with 2:47 remaining.
“I felt like if we could just stay close and do enough, possession by possession, maybe we could speed them up, turn them over and get them out of their rhythm,” Hernandez said about rallying against Bell Buckle. “That was the plan originally. And I have one tough group of girls. And I’m super proud of them.
“There were times when we got down six or seven that we could tucked (tail) and quit. But we didn’t quit. We’ve been talking about maxing it out — and they emptied the tank tonight.”
Green got a transition layup off Bell Buckle’s 22nd turnover with 2:31 to go to give Webb Knoxville its first lead, 41-39.
And she slashed to the basket for another score with 1:31 to play for a four-point Lady Spartans lead.
Green finished 11 of 20 from the floor with eight rebounds and three steals. She often had to guard Bell Buckle’s top player and Miss Basketball finalist, Dasha Biriuk.
Biriuk finished 3 for 11 for eight points, four steals, five rebounds — and 10 turnovers.
“We were pretty rough in the beginning with our offense,” Green said. “But our defense was key, and that really got us going.”
Webb eighth-grader Kyndall Mays hit two foul shots with 23.7 seconds left for a 46-41 lead. She scored 16 points with seven rebounds.
Green added two more for good measure with 11 seconds left.
SETTING THE SCENE
Dasha Biriuk, a 6-1 junior, topped the Lady Spartans’ scouting report to defend Webb-Bell Buckle.
Biriuk is a native of Ukraine who fled there to America in late 2022 when Russia invaded. She’s now a major college basketball prospect, having received offers from teams such as Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and Louisville.
She entered Thursday’s contest averaging a team-best 17.9 points per game, along with 5.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.6 steals per game.
While Biriuk started 0 for 3 from the floor and had two points at half, Bell Buckle’s eighth-grade, 6-foot forward Makynli Bacon — who averages 9.9 points per game — scored five points on 2-for-2 shooting in the first 4:30 of the contest to spark a 12-4 spurt.
Bell Buckle’s defensive length caused some inefficiency, too, for Webb’s offense, as the Feet logged five steals in the first six minutes of the game.
Webb-Knox adjusted, though, and Green’s 3 with 7:20 left in the first half cut Bell Buckle’s lead to 16-14.
Green added another trey at the 3:22 mark of the second, slicing Bell Buckle’s lead to 21-17. Her transition bucket roughly a minute later allowed Webb-Knox to trail just 23-21.
Only she and Lady Spartans eighth-grader Mays (nine points) scored in the first half for Webb.
Bell Buckle had 12 first-half turnovers but still led 26-21. It pushed the lead to nine points in the opening minutes of the third.
A pair of jumpers by Green midway through the third kept Webb Knoxville within five points.
But she had more left in the tank to give.
“She’s a superstar — not only as a basketball player, but as a person, leader in the locker room,” Hernandez said of Green. “There are a lot of great players out there that are studs. But you have to deal with some baggage and this and that.
“But not with (Green). She’s been working for this, to have this moment — especially against a girl who was up for Miss Basketball. Obviously, that’s something I put in her ear a little bit. But, I’m just super proud of her. She’s built for this. She’s worked for this. And I couldn’t be prouder of her.”