Memphis trip worth a huge ‘W,’ state Final 4 berth for Collier’s Webb girls
MEMPHIS — For the first time in four years, Webb School of Knoxville’s girls basketball team returned to the state tournament.
And after an impressive showing in the quarterfinal round, the Lady Spartans could be a contender for a Division II-AA championship.
Webb jumped out to a 15-5 lead at the end of one at Briarcrest Christian School, built a 26-10 halftime lead, then held off the Saints 49-35 Friday, Feb. 25. The win advances the Lady Spartans to the semifinal round against Lipscomb Academy, with opening tip-off at 1 p.m., EST, Thursday (today), March 3, on the campus of Tennessee Tech in Cookeville.
Webb head coach Shelley Collier was proud of both of her team’s resilience and growth over the season.
“Our kids were very locked in and focused,” she said. “I’m just really proud of the way they have grown and come together as a team. It was a great team win.”
The game was essentially won in the first half, as Webb held BCS to a mere five points in each of the first two quarters.
“We really had a great start … we jumped out on them and executed on both ends of the floor,” Collier said. “I think we kind of caught them off guard. I don’t think they thought we were gonna come out as strong as we did.”
The Lady Spartans (18-10) faltered a bit in the second half, as the lead got cut to six.
They then finished strong.
“We ran into a bit of foul trouble,” Collier said. “In the third quarter we started making mistakes, turnovers. There was a spell where we allowed too many offensive rebounds and they were starting to climb back in. And then we kind of separated again toward the end.”
The high scorer for the Lady Spartans was eighth-grade guard Meeyah Green with 16. Senior guard Shae Berry scored 12 and junior forward Madelyn Ladd added 11.
Kayla Clarkson got 12 for BCA; Kathryn chipped in 10. “They’re well-coached,” Collier said. His (Coach Lee Smith’s) kids play hard for him. They didn’t quit. They came back and gave us a good fight.”
Collier especially likes her team’s perseverance through adversity this year.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries and haven’t had the same lineup on the floor all year long,” said Collier. “We lost a couple games this year we should have won. Hopefully we’ve learned from those losses.”
