BY MIKE BLACKERBY
MORRISTOWN – No coach, no problem.
With head coach Jonathan Shultz sidelined due to an illness, Sevier County’s girls still managed to take care of business Monday night in the Region 1-4A semifinals at Morristown East.
The Bearettes (29-3) carved out a hard-earned 53-42 win over Daniel Boone (17-14) to advance to Wednesday’s 7 p.m. Region 1 championship game at Morristown East.
Dobyns-Bennett (23-7) eliminated the host Lady Hurricanes by an identical 53-42 score in Monday’s other semifinal game to earn a berth opposite Sevier County in Wednesday’s finals.
Both Sevier County and D-B also advance to sectional play regardless of the outcome of the region championship game.
Sectional winners qualify for the state tournament in Murfreesboro.
Here’s a look at Monday’s Region 1-4A semifinal games:
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Bearettes rally around coach
Sevier County assistant Beth Ownby assumed head coaching duties with Shultz out of commission.
“Jonathan wasn’t with us tonight,” explained Ownby.
“He’s sick and in the hospital, but he called in before the game to give a pre-game speech. I felt like it really motivated them. I love coming out with the energy we did.”
Senior point guard Kinley Loveday hit two deep balls and scored nine first-quarter points to stake the Bearettes to a commanding 19-7 lead.
Loveday scored a game-high 22 points and was hard to guard. She was 7 of 12 from the field and 6 of 9 from the foul line.
“Kinley is our spark plug and our leader,” said Ownby.
“She’s our floor general and she’s just a player.”
Loveday admitted it was unusual to not have her head coach on the bench.
“It’s the first game he has ever missed since he has been with us,” said Loveday.
“It was definitely weird, but we figured it out. He prepared us well in practice and we hold ourselves accountable.”
Junior guard/forward Cybil Penland contributed 18 points and six rebounds for the Bearettes.
“Cybil does a lot of the little things right,” said Ownby.
Senior forward Aubree Laney added seven points and seven rebounds for Sevier County.
Kyleigh Bacon paced Daniel Boone with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Sevier County took a 26-12 lead at the half and the Blazers could get no closer than seven points the rest of the way as the Bearettes advanced to the region title game.
“Hopefully Jonathan will be back Wednesday,” said Ownby.
“I can’t take another night of this,” she quipped.
Loveday said it was a case of the Bearettes overcoming adversity and prevailing.
“I just didn’t want my senior season to be over yet,” she said.
East’s big turnaround
An otherwise outstanding season came to a disappointing end for Morristown East’s girls.
The Lady Hurricanes, after going 12-20 and 7-20 the previous two seasons, finished 23-10 under second-year coach Justin Combs.
“With the success we had this year – and getting to this point in the season – that it gives the kids a taste of what’s possible,” said Combs.
“I felt like we had a chance, if we got by Dobyns-Bennett tonight, to win a sectional game.”
East jumped to an early 7-2 lead, but D-B rebounded to gain the upper hand 14-11 after one quarter.
The Indians led 23-16 at the half and 39-26 after three quarters.
East got as close as seven points late, but the big lead by D-B was too much to overcome.
“I was proud of the way the kids responded,” said Combs.
“We just got ourselves in too deep a hole. Early on I thought we missed some chances in the first quarter to build a lead.”
Indians senior guard Caroline Hill was the difference for the Indians.
Hill fired in 21 points. She was 7 of 14 from the floor and 5 of 6 at the line
East held Hill to eight points in a win earlier in the season against D-B.
“She was tough to guard tonight,” said Combs.
“There’s a reason she’s going to Carson-Newman.”
Hannah Hall and Harmony Sullivan topped East in scoring with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
Hailey Hall had three triples and nine points.
The future portends great things for the Lady Hurricanes as the bulk of East’s team returns for the 2024-25 season.
“No. 1 (Hailey Hall) is the only senior in our whole program,” said Combs.
“We’re going to miss her, but we have four starters back next season.”
Hudson Cloninger and Ella Wampler are the other returning starters next season for East.
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