Shocking Father Ryan in semis, Lady Irish claim 2nd in state
COOKEVILLE — An extremely young team with practically no winning tradition in recent years found itself on the biggest high school stage — but had to face a team with superior height, perimeter sharpshooters and a stout box-and-one defense.
Though falling just short of a state crown, Knoxville Catholic’s Lady Irish surprised many with a post-season run all the way to the TSSAA Division II Blue Cross Basketball championship game in Tennessee Tech’s Hooper Eblen Center Saturday, March 6.
This young KCHS team, still learning to win under intense pressure, perhaps was written off by many at halftime, especially against a talented and much more experienced Hutchison team.
The Lady Sting from Memphis used its size, perimeter shooting and sticky box-in-one defense to build a 26-11 halftime lead that grew to 30-11 early in the third quarter.
But head coach Travis Mains’ Lady Irish tightened up its own defense, forcing 18 turnovers for the game while holding Hutchison to 11 second-half points.
“We came out and we played harder than they did and we won the second half,” Mains said about his team cutting the lead to 39-34 — with the ball — in the final 30 seconds of regulation.
But ending its season 22-2, the Lady Sting managed to hang on for a 41-34 state title victory.
“We got out early ... that was the difference in that ballgame,” Sting head coach Thomas Jones said.
“Our coach, he’s taught us not to give up,” said point guard Jeila Greenlee, the team’s only regular-playing senior, who led Catholic in scoring with 11 points, which included a trio of three-point field goals.
“We’ve all become a family,” added an emotional Greenlee, a transfer from Johnson City Science Hill. “... No matter what the outcome of any game, we’re always there for each other.”
Sydney Mains, a freshman wing, added nine for the Lady Irish (15-17), who earned the title game appearance Saturday after handing Father Ryan just its third loss of the season (21-3), winning handily 50-38 in the semifinals Friday afternoon, March 5.
Against Father Ryan, Mains scored a game-high 23 points (6-of-8 from the field). Greenlee and sophomore guard Jazmin Williams each added 12 for Catholic.
Hutchison post Kaia Barnett, who made for an formidable pair with fellow star post Caryn Harrison, scored a game-high 14 points.
Despite this year’s success, “We’ve got to get physically stronger, we’ve got to handle the ball better, we’ve got to understand the game a little bit better,” coach Mains said.
