Tigerettes Win 8AA Championship
The Macon County High Tigerettes repeated as the 2020 District 8AA champions.
They defeated Upperman in the finals of this year’s tournament.
Playing to defeat the Lady Bees for the third time, Macon faced off against Upperman in the District 8AA championship game at Tennessee Tech on Monday Feb 24th. Macon came out focused and ready to play as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Lady Bees could catch their breath.
Midway thru the quarter timely three point shooting by Jamie Ashburn, Abby Shoulders, and Saranda Woodson sent the Tigerettes on a 12-0 run that saw them build a 13 point lead. Macon led 23-13 after the first eight minutes.
Both teams settled in to play in the second quarter. Jalynn Gregory and Abby Shoulders turned up the intensity with blanketing defense on the Lady Bee guards, allowing Upperman only eight points in the quarter. Tigerette fans were pleased with a 33-20 lead at the break.
The Tigerettes should have expected a Lady Bee run, as they have made in the past two meetings, in the third quarter. However that simply didn’t happen. Upperman just could not crack the code to score on the smothering Tigerette defensive pressure.
Macon led 44-30 heading into the final eight minutes. The Tigerettes missed two front-end 1 and 1 opportunities at the free throw line in the last half of the quarter. However, they made enough shots at the charity stripe to hold the Lady Bees at bay. Final score was Macon 58 Upperman 44.
Scoring for the Tigerettes was: Jalynn Gregory 16, Keeley Carter 13, Abby Shoulders 10, Jamie Ashburn 9, Saranda Woodson 6, and Marah King 4. Emily Ashburn, Myle Crowder, Mckaylee Mis, Kinsley Arnett, Cadence Carter, Gracie Scott, and Allie Thompson all played but did not score.
From the two-time 8AA Champions, Jamie Ashburn, Jalynn Gregory, Marah King, and Abby Shoulders were named to the All-Tournament team and Keeley Carter was named the tournament MVP.
This will set the stage for the first round of Region 4 play with Marion County coming to town on Friday Feb 28th at Nera White Gymnasium.
The Macon County Tigerettes advanced to the Region 4AA semi-finals with a resounding defeat of the Marion County Lady Warriors. The final score was 93-27 and it wasn’t even that close.
If you have ever seen a cat toying with a mouse, then you have a good visual of the first quarter of this contest. The Tigerettes scored a season high 33 points in the first eight minutes and replicated that in the second period. The usual smothering defense allowed only 2 points in the first quarter and six more in the second. Macon led 66-8 at the break.
Coach White had started sprinkling in subs late in the first half and the starters barely played in the second half. The Tigerette bench played a pretty good half but with a running clock it was pretty short. Final score was Macon 93 Marion County 27.
For the first time all season, fans could see one of the fruits of all the season wins. With an average margin of victory of almost 20 points in each game, all season, the Tigerette bench has gotten much more playing time than usual. In this game those girls showed vast improvement and give way to some promising play next season. But what do you expect to happen when you practice against the #1 ranked team in Class AA every day?
Scoring for this game was: Keeley Carter 17, Saranda Woodson 15, Mckaylee Mix 13, Jalynn Gregory 11, Abby Shoulders 10, Graci Scott 7, Allie Thompson 6, Myle Crowder 5, Jamie Ashburn 3, and Cadence Carter 3. Kinsley Arnett played but did not score. The Tigerettes also forced a season high 30 turnovers from the Lady Warriors.
As District 8AA swept all four teams from 7AA, Macon will face York on Monday night Mar 2nd in the region semi-final. Upperman will play DeKalb in the other semi-final game.
