CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Clarksville girls basketball pulled away late over Northeast at home on Thursday, securing a first-round 45-29 victory in the District 10-AAA tournament.
The game was extremely physical throughout its entirety, as bodies hitting the floor and tie-ups were aplenty.
Lady Wildcat junior Macy Brown discussed what it was like to play in such a bruising battle.
“Well the refs know it’s the playoffs so they’re not going to call as much and let us play,” Brown said. “It was very intense.”
Despite failing to capitalize on a number of quality looks inside during the first half, the Lady Eagles only found themselves trailing by four points at the break. Northeast was able to chip away at the deficit late by creating havoc with their full-court pressure, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
“We did miss a few at the beginning and that’s hard,” said Northeast girls basketball coach Tracie Mason-Blair. “That puts a hole in you when you miss the easy buckets and that’s kind of been our struggle all season long.
“In the fourth quarter, we just couldn’t get any offense going. When you’re behind you have to score and we didn’t do a good job of actually getting to the ball tonight like we normally do.”
Midway through the second quarter, Clarksville’s Kate Howard recorded a two-point basket before Erin Lackey knocked down a three to take a 17-12 lead.
Clarksville girls basketball coach Brian Rush called a timeout immediately after the sequence to speak with his team.
“I think at that point what we really wanted to focus in on was to keep getting the ball inside,” Rush said. “We also wanted to change defenses. We had talked about going zone for a little bit because we wanted to give them a little bit of a different look there. We eventually did go back to man and were able to go possession by possession with them.”
Early on in the second half, Brown found Mya Collins inside for consecutive scores off of two impressive assists to give Clarksville some breathing room.
“I love passing,” Brown said. “I take pride in setting my teammates up to score and they always finish for me.”
Nariah Nicholson delivered a devasting blow to Northeast, connecting on a corner three to build CHS’s lead back to eight points just before the third-quarter buzzer sounded. Rush talked about just how big the made shot was to take a little pressure off his group moving forward.
“Oh, it was huge,” Rush said. “I thought the game was getting closer and closer. Nariah has worked extremely hard this year. She can hit that shot. It’s one of those where she took it and shot it with confidence. I thought that changed the complexion of us being able to go out into the fourth quarter and finish.”
Brown shared how having to overcome the loss of three key contributors this season has in a way positively impacted the rest of the group.
“We’ve just come together as a team,” Brown said. “We’ve all had to do a little extra and it took a lot, but we’ve gotten through it.”
Having your season come to an end with a loss is never easy to swallow, but Mason-Blair does take solace in knowing that the core of her team will likely still remain in-tact next season.
“I mean yes I’m losing four seniors and really one starter who has played quality minutes,” Mason-Blair said. “If they do decide to stay together, I think if they get in the gym and put in the work, they can be something special.”
After the game, Mason-Blair briefly reflected on the season as a whole.
“I was pleased overall because we haven’t had a winning season in a long time,” Mason-Blair said. “Did I expect more? Yes, I did. In that aspect it’s a little disappointing, but I am proud of what they accomplished and hope and pray that they get in the gym and work in order to make some more noise next year.”
Cierra Bowser had a team-high nine points for the Lady Eagles followed by Krysonie Mitchell with six points.
Collins led all scorers with 15 points while Lackey finished with 14 points for the Lady Wildcats.
Clarksville will take on rival Rossview Saturday at Springfield for what will be the third meeting between the two teams this year.
“When Rossview and us play it’s always a war,” Rush said of the matchup. “Both teams respect each other and it’s always a competitive atmosphere. Now you add that it decides who gets to play in the district championship game. Not that our rivalry needed any other incentive, but we got it and it should be a fun game for people to come watch.”