Lady Cavs climb from behind to defeat Devilettes

The pace was in Cookeville's favor. But Lebanon was leading most of the game until Erin Helton got hot in the fourth quarter Friday night.
Helton hit eight of her game-high 12 points from the post in the fourth as the Lady Cavaliers came from behind for a grind-it-out 30-27 District 7-AAA win at Campbell Brandon Gym/Hester Gibbs Court.
Lebanon led 21-16 at the end of a third quarter in which the teams scored a combined four points. But Helton's final basket pulled Cookeville into a 24-24 tie with less than three minutes to play before she fouled out.
Jasmin Brooks dropped in a free throw to put the Devilettes back in front by a point. But two free throws and a driving layup by Rochelle Davidson put Cookeville ahead to stay as the Lady Cavaliers climbed to 14-4 for the season and 3-1 in district play.
"We kept trying to push the ball but they did such a great job of getting back ... and they're so tall and long that you could never get a good look at the basket," Lebanon coach Darian Brown said after his Devilettes dropped to 6-10, 2-2 pending a non-district trip to Gallatin at 6:30 p.m. tonight. "Once we got a lead, we were content to just play with the ball and keep turning it over and keep turning it over and make them play defense because they were getting tired. We felt like that was in our hands even though we don't like to sit and hold the ball like that. We felt like they couldn't put enough pressure on us. They stepped it up and did some things and we made a couple of turnovers that were crucial at that point in time.
"We knew we had to keep the ball out of (Helton's) hands and we did a good job until the fourth quarter. London (Elie) got in foul trouble. So then she was afraid to be aggressive down there. We tried to keep her fronted all night long. But when she got that fourth foul, she was afraid to get up there and work like she had early and put us behind the eight ball."
Lebanon led 7-4 before Cookeville came back to tie the score 7-7 at the first-quarter break.
The Lady Cavaliers led early in the second before Lebanon went up by 18-13 on a pullup three-pointer by Brooks. Jade Bartlett dropped in a pair of free throws as Cookeville climbed within 18-15 by halftime.
Ebony Marshall's three-pointer provided the only third-period points for Lebanon while point guard Bianca Burnett's free throw was the only tally for Cookeville in the quarter.
"You can't take enough away from them, they played well and our kids played their butts off and played their hearts out and that's all you can ask of them," Brown said.
Brooks led Lebanon with eight points while Crystal Howse scored six, Elie four and Marshall, Kim Ha and Icelyn Elie three each.

Lady Wildcats upended at Smyrna
SMYRNA — The Lady Wildcats of Wilson Central went down to District 9-AAA rival Smyrna 50-44 Friday.
In a rematch of last year's district final (won by Central) and Region 5-AAA title tilt (won by Smyrna), Wilson Central held the lead briefly in the first quarter, 10-5, before the Lady Bulldogs gained momentum.
"We were having trouble guarding people and we missed free throws," Lady Wildcat coach Bud Brandon said after his team dropped to 14-2 for the season and 2-1 in district play. "That's a recipe for disaster."
Smyrna held a three-point lead at halftime, 23-20, and the third quarter ended 39-34 in favor of the Lady Bulldogs.
"They had too many second-chance opportunities," Brandon said. "We've got several problems to address."
Leading the way for the Lady Wildcats was Jasmine Hassell with 18 points. Tierney Jenkins added 15, Lauren Farmer six, Sara Williams four and Chelsea Burroughs a free throw.
For Smyrna, Jasmine White had 14 points and Alex Adams put in 12.
Wilson Central will host district-rival Gallatin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Lady Bear defense leads to easy victory over Beech
HENDERSONVILLE — Solid first-half defense paved the way to victory as the Mt. Juliet Lady Bears defeated Beech 65-44 Friday to move to 16-1.
"We played real good defense and got after it in the first quarter," Mt. Juliet coach Chris Fryer said after his team moved to 4-0 in district play.
The Lady Bears jumped ahead in the first quarter 25-9 and allowed Beech only three points in the second, going into the locker room leading 45-12.
"It was pretty well over with in the first half," Fryer said.
The Lady Bucaneers tried to close the gap in the third but were unsuccessful and trailed 53-29.
The Lady Bears' Jordan Nixon led all scorers with 26 points. K.C. VanAtta fired in three 3-pointers on her way to 15 points. Heather Miller put in nine, Macie Gleaves seven, Miaca Bowman four, Rebecca Sharpe three and Katie Bryan a free throw.
Colby Wherry had 10 points to lead Beech.
The Lady Bears will step out of the district when they host Father Ryan at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Tommy Martin Gym.

Westmoreland wears out Watertown
WESTMORELAND — Westmoreland's girls took it to Watertown from the opening tip Friday as the Lady Eagles soared to a 59-35 District 8-A triumph.
The Lady Eagles led 15-8 following the first quarter and 35-13 at halftime as Watertown dropped to 9-6 for the season and 3-2 in the district pending a trip to Friendship Christian's Sportsplex at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"Their mentality was better," Watertown coach Jeff Luttrell said of the Lady Eagles. "They're better physically. They came out ready to play."
Lindsey Jones threw in 13 points from the wing while Holly Perry tossed in two three-pointers on her way to 10 for Westmoreland.
Center Miaushia Thompson totaled a game-high 18 points for Watertown while Brittnee Sells scored six, Sarah Reeder and Laura Clark three each, Carly Smith and Amanda Montgomery two apiece and Lauren Lewis a free throw.
Staff Writer Kimberly Jordan contributed to this report.
Sports Editor Andy Reed can be reached at 444-3952 ext. 17 or by e-mail at andy.reed@lebanondemocrat.com.