Buzzer beaters are the highlights of basketball. When a team makes a buzzer beater, everyone loves to watch it go in, and to see the team who hit it celebrate. However, in every buzzer beating story, there has to be a team that feels the sting of defeat, at team that doesn’t truly understand what just happened until later.
That team on Saturday was Macon County. After defeating Covington and the Christian Academy of Knoxville to advance to the State Championship, Macon County fell to CPA on a buzzer beating three-pointer that ultimately ended the Tigerettes’ dream of winning state. The Tigerettes did, however, finish second in state, which is an incredible statistic. This is the second time in the past three years that the Tigerettes have finished second in state.
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First, the Tigerettes played against Covington. The Tigerettes were already projected to lose to Covington. However, the Tigerettes won a nail-biting game, beating Covington 65-63 by holding off their furious outburst of points in the fourth quarter.
The first half was all Macon County. The Tigerettes came out in the first quarter of their State Tournament and scored nineteen points. Covington scored eleven. Macon County came out in the second quarter and put up fifteen points, while Covington stayed close with fourteen. The score at halftime was 34-25.
In the second half, Covington came out hungry for a victory. The third quarter wasn’t that bad, as Macon County scored sixteen, and Covington scored thirteen. However, the fourth quarter was when Covington started pulling close and threatened to win. Covington scored twenty-five points in the fourth quarter. Macon County scored fifteen, though, and stayed ahead of Covington, going on to win the game 65-63.
Terra Pryor led the Tigerettes in scoring with 21 points. Briley Driver had fourteen points, Leah Anderson had twelve, Kailyn Brooks had 11, and Kelsey Gregory had 7. Macon County had eight three-pointers.
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The Tigerettes second game was against CAK (Christian Academy of Knoxville). The Tigerettes started slow in the first quarter, but they woke up in the second and fourth quarter and went on to take the victory 64-54.
In the first quarter, Macon County seemed to be tired, as they only scored seven points. However, CAK only scored ten points, so the Tigerettes weren’t down bad after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Tigerettes woke up and scored nineteen points, while CAK only scored thirteen. The score at the half was 26-23.
The second half started off slow for the Tigerettes. Macon County scored thirteen points in the third quarter, while CAK scored nineteen. The score after three quarters was CAK 42, Macon County 39. However, in the fourth quarter, Macon County erupted for twenty-five points, while holding CAK to twelve. The Tigerettes went on to win the game by ten, 64-54.
The Tigerettes tied a State Tournament record with a jaw-dropping 11 three-pointers. Terra Pryor led the Tigerettes in scoring with 21. Pryor had four three pointers. Kailyn Brooks had eighteen points, along with three three-pointers. Kelsey Gregory had fourteen points with three three’s. Leah Anderson had eight points, and Briley Driver had three.
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The Tigerettes’ final game was against CPA. The Tigerettes had beaten CPA in Regions earlier in the year, and CPA was looking for revenge. They ended up getting their revenge by beating the Tigerettes on a last-second game-winning shot and taking the State Championship 62-59.
The Tigerettes controlled the game early. Macon County scored seventeen points in the first quarter, while CPA scored fifteen. In the second quarter, Macon County scored eighteen points. CPA would only score eleven. The Tigerettes were halfway to a State Championship, as they led 35-26 at the half.
Unfortunately, basketball is a game of two halves. CPA and Macon County both scored ten points in the third quarter. It was 45-36 after three quarters. However, in the fourth quarter, CPA went on a 16-4 run, including the dagger that ended the Tigerettes’ season. The Tigerettes had not guarded Adela Franco, the CPA player who hit the game-winning shot, tightly because she didn’t have a three the entire game, and, before she hit the shot, she only had two points.
Kelsey Gregory and Terra Pryor had thirteen points each. Kailyn Brooks had ten. Leah Anderson had eight, Briley Driver had five, and Whitney Wilburn had two.
Although the Tigerettes didn’t win the Big Game, the community supports these amazing young ladies 150%. To Seniors Kelsey Gregory, Terra Pryor, Kailyn Brooks, and Whitney Wilburn: we as a community want to thank you for playing all four years of high school, and for helping the Tigerettes make it to the State Tournament for the first and second time in Macon County’s long history! It’s great to be a Macon County Tiger and Tigerette!
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