TMSAA State Tournament: Jr. Lady Highlanders finish runner-ups after classic against Harriman
Published 3:56 pm Monday, February 11, 2019
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips The Cloudland Jr. Lady Highlanders finished runner-up in the TMSAA Class A Girls State Tournament Saturday. The Jr. Lady Highlanders are, in no particular order, Kendall Birchfield, Ella Benfield, Katie Baldwin, Saharra McKinney, Ryan Turbyfill, Kaylee Hughes, Bethany Sluder, Hannah Morgan, Bella Clawson, Melena Roberson, Kenlee Blevins, Mia Clarke, Izabella Christman, and Kaitlyn Harrison. The Jr. Lady Highlanders are coached by Matt Birchfield and assistant coach Sam Potter.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Jr. Highlanders Saharra McKinney drives around the perimeter against Harriman during Saturday state championships.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Jr. Lady Highlanders Izabella Christman sizes up a foulshot during Saturday state finals in Smyrna.
Star Photo/Bryce Phillips Cloudland's Kendall Birchfield pulls up a 3-pointer during Saturday's state finals game against Harriman.
SMYRNA—Late mishaps would see the state title slip from the Jr. Lady Highlanders hands Saturday during the TMSAA Class A Girls’ State Finals.
After holding a sizable lead throughout, the Jr. Lady Highlanders fell in overtime, 34-29, to Harriman Middle School.
The Jr. Lady Highlanders, however, finished second in the state out of over 160 schools in Class A basketball.
“This is still really big for our girls,” said Cloudland head coach Matt Birchfield. “I am so proud of them for us getting to where we did. They have had a great year and have worked tremendously hard to get here.”
Saturday, a pair of 3-pointers from Cloudland’s Saharra Mckinney and Katie Baldwin would help the Jr. Lady Highlanders take an 8-4 lead coming out of the first quarter.
McKinney opened the second frame by knocking down another 3-ball to jump Cloudland ahead 11-4 in the second. Towards the back end of the first half, Cloudland’s Izabella Christman made good on a 3-point play to give the Jr. Lady Highlanders a 15-7 lead heading into the half. Cloudland outscored Harriman 8-3 in the second quarter.
Cloudland rolled in the third quarter as the Jr. Lady Highlanders outworked Harriman 10-4 in the quarter to take a 25-11 lead heading into the fourth. Both McKinney and Christman had four points in the quarter while Cloudland’s Kendall Birchfield had a bucket to help her team’s cause.
Things started to unravel at the top of the fourth quarter for the Jr. Lady Highlanders. The Jr. Lady Blue Devils opened up the final quarter with a 13-point rally before outscoring Cloudland 15-1 in the fourth to send the game into overtime 26-26. The game seemed to be the Jr. Lady Highlanders as 1.2 seconds showed on the clocked and Cloudland led by two points. However, Harriman would inbound the ball under their goal and convert on a last-second bucket to tie things ups.
Harriman would outscore Cloudland 8-3 in overtime en route to a comeback victory.
“We had a good lead, but they just hit some big-time shots,” said Birchfield. “We couldn’t make foul shots down the stretch which really hurt us.”
The Jr. Lady Highlanders finished the 2018-19 season as champions at both the East Sectional and Area 1 tournaments before becoming one of the first schools to compete in the inaugural TMSAA State Tournament.
McKinney led Cloudland with 12 points while Christman finished with eight. Benfield had four and Baldwin had three.
