Young Lady Warriors shine
KNOXVILLE — After losing nine seniors following last season’s run to the Division II-A State Semifinals, the Christian Academy girls basketball team felt overlooked and somewhat disrespected.
So the Lady Warriors entered their state quarterfinal showdown against Murfreesboro’s Providence Christian Academy with a bit of a chip on their shoulders.
Well, CAK finally earned the respect it deserved as it edged the Lady Lion, 46-42 to punch its ticket back to Cookeville and the state semifinals.
“Nobody gave this team the love they deserved and I can’t tell you how proud I am of them right now,” CAK head coach Abby Williams said. “It feels good to be going back to state.
“Everybody kind of counted us out after we graduated nine girls last year, so to have a whole new group pretty much come in and keep going with what’s a standard for us, I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
The Lady Warriors, who lost four starters to graduation, were led by their lone senior starter, Izzy Proffitt/
“This game meant everything to me because I’ve been short twice in a row”, said Proffitt, who scored 13 points to help the Lady Warriors (26-9) open an eight-point lead and withstand a late comeback effort from PCA. “People have been doubting us and people have been dissing us just because we’re younger and smaller, but that’s not going to stop us.”
CAK darted out to a fast start and opened a 24-16 advantage against the Lady Lions (23-6) in a rematch of the 2018 state championship game..
Providence Christian took a 30-29 lead as senior guard and Miss Basketball Finalist Daisy Gale buried a three-pointer with 7:26 left in the contest.
The Lady Warriors responded by reeling off six straight points to make it 36-30.
They never trailed again.
“Our kids never quit, even when they lost the lead,” Williams said.
