TSSAA basketball state tournament roundup: USJ girls survives a thriller to reach championship
COOKEVILLE – It's Day 2 of the TSSAA Division II boys and girls basketball state tournament as we shift to Division II-A Friday at the Hooper Eblen Center on the campus of Tennessee Tech.
Here are Friday's roundup from the semifinal games.
Friday
Division II-A girls
USJ 36, CAK 35: Ellen Driver sank two free-throws with 17 seconds left as USJ survived a thriller to advance to its first state championship game since 2017.
Colie Thompson's 3-pointer with 46 seconds left gave the Lady Warriors a brief 35-34 lead after USJ's Haylen Ayers hit one of two shots from the foul line. Neither team led more than four points in the game. Ayers, a Miss Basketball finalist, finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for USJ. Ava Barnham added 10 points in the win.
Thompson was the only player in double figures with 11 points and six rebounds. CAK’s star scorer Maddie Braden fouled out with 1:09 left in the game and finished with nine points. CAK forced 17 turnovers and scored 17 points off those turnovers. The Lady Warriors had the ball at the end of regulation with a chance to win it but the 3-point shot fell short as USJ celebrated
Goodpasture 58, The King’s Academy 47: The Lady Cougars advanced to the program's first ever state championship game thanks to the wide margin in the turnover battle. They had seven turnovers compared to The King’s Academy’s 21. Goodpasture also scored 22 points off those turnovers.
Lady Cougars junior Ona Hawkins had a game-high 19 points, four rebounds, and three assists and decimated King's Academy's defense, slicing through for 12 of her 19 in the second half. Junior Addi Ruffin pitched in another 13 points.
"It feels pretty awesome," Goodpasture coach Taylor Clay said. "And I think (the team) would agree. This is really a dream come true for us. These girls have worked extremely hard to make this dream a reality."
The King’s Academy was led by freshman Skylar Walden who had 17 points. Lady Lions forward Brady Branam fouled out with 4:25 left in the game and finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
Division II-A boys
FACS 66, Silverdale Baptist 59: The Crusaders returned to their second state championship in three years after outlasting Silverdale in the final state semifinal game of the tournament Friday.
FACS will face Providence Christian at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Martechio Hayes led FACS with 23 points and eight rebounds. Jacob Walker added 15 points and Marcellous Jackson had 13 points and seven rebounds.
Silverdale guard Elyjah Richardson drained a 3-pointer with 1:09 left in the game to cut FACS lead to 59-54. But Hayes completed a three-point play on the following play. Richardson connected on another 3 as the Seahawks got within 62-57. But FACS kept Silverdale at arms-length for the win.
Silverdale held a 17-13 first-quarter lead but FACS outscored the Seahawks 19-8 in the second quarter to take control. Kennedy Okpara led Silverdale with 19 points and Brett Wright added 17 points.
Providence Christian 54, ECS 40: Playing in the program's first state tournament, Providence Christian advanced to its first state championship game with a win over Evangelical Christian Friday in the boys DII-A semifinal.
Aiden Bolden had 16 points and seven rebounds as PCA shot 15-of-25 from the foul line and out-rebounded ECS, 40-23. Preston Wade added 13 points and seven rebounds while Judson Bjornstad added 12 in the win. The Lions bench outscored ECS, 18-1.
"It feels good," said Bolden when asked about building PCA's tradition. "We're continuing to grow. We're just setting the expectation for the next group, setting the bar higher and higher."
PCA had balance in the first half with six players reaching the scoring column led by Bjornstad's six points. PCA never trailed.
Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on the X platform (formerly Twitter) @Cville_Sports.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA Basketball: Division II boys and girls state tournament roundup
