PORTLAND For the Station Camp High girls basketball team, Wednesday evening’s District 9-AAA Tournament quarterfinal game came down to one thing … simply making shots.
Unfortunately for the seventh-seeded Lady Bison, that didn’t happen enough in the second half as second-seeded Mt. Juliet pulled away for a 57-34 victory at Portland High School.
Mt. Juliet (16-8) finished the third quarter on an 8-0 run after Station Camp had pulled within five points (35-30) with 2:03 left in the period.
“(Mt. Juliet’s) high-low took over with their size, and we don’t have a true post player,” Station Camp interim head coach Jill Gregory said. “That hurts in that situation.”
The Lady Bison cut the gap to two points (31-29) with 4:20 left in the quarter on back-to-back field goals from junior Emiline Payne, who led Station Camp with eight points.
Mt. Juliet outscored the Lady Bison by a 24-4 margin in the fourth quarter as Station Camp struggled to put the ball in the basket. The Lady Bison also struggled to stop Mt. Juliet junior post player Tavie Bell (30 points) and senior post Karly Dyer (17 points.)
“When you know that you have to win or you’re done, that hurts,” Gregory said. “(Shots) weren’t falling. But I’m proud of the way that they came out and fought, because they could have come out and just laid down.”
Mt. Juliet led 27-19 at halftime, but the Lady Bison (10-19) quickly pulled close thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomores Carolyn Fitch and Jane Deason.
Station Camp High junior Cassidy Fry attempts to dribble past Mt. Juliet sophomore Natalie Sims during fourth-quarter action.
Station Camp High freshman Olivia Delk dribbles along the baseline during fourth-quarter action. Delk scored seven points.
“We put pressure on the guards, got tips on the ball, and we didn’t want to get in that high-low game,” Gregory said. “I thought we played awesome defense in the first half, but we just didn’t have anything fall.”
Mt. Juliet won both regular season meetings between the two teams, a 59-38 triumph at Station Camp on Jan. 15 and a 53-42 victory at Mt. Juliet on Feb. 9.
Station Camp loses one senior – J’Lese Lyles.
The Lady Bears advanced to face the winner of Thursday evening’s quarterfinal between third-seeded Hendersonville and No. 6 seed Beech in Saturday’s semifinal round.
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.
STATION CAMP (34) – Emiline Payne 8, Olivia Delk 7, Jane Deason 6, Carolyn Fitch 6, LaPraysia Ward 5, Sydney Creager 2.
MT. JULIET (57) – Tavie Bell 30, Karly Dyer 17, Payton Brumbach 3, Julia Maki 3, Cailyn Douglas 2, Cassidy Harris 2.
Half: 27-19, Mt. Juliet. Three-point goals: Station Camp 4 (Deason 2, Fitch 2), Mt. Juliet 2 (Brumbach 1, Maki 1). Records: Station Camp 10-19, Mt. Juliet 16-8.