Brentwood Academy guard Breuna Jackson, left, drives past Baylor guard Grace Wardeberg, right, during the first half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game on Saturday.
Baylor forward Abby Hubert (11) goes to the basket against Brentwood Academy forward Bria Dial, behind, during the first half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game on Saturday.
Baylor forward Abby Hubert (11) goes to the basket against Brentwood Academy forward Bria Dial, behind, during the first half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game on Saturday.
Brentwood Academy guard Breuna Jackson, left, drives past Baylor guard Grace Wardeberg, right, during the first half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game on Saturday.
Brentwood Academy players celebrate winning their third consecutive TSSAA Division II-AA championship at Lipscomb University on March 5, 2016.
For the first two quarters of Saturday’s TSSAA Division II-AA girls state final, it looked as if Baylor might stop Brentwood Academy from capturing its third consecutive state title.
But after 10 ties and 10 lead changes in the first half, the Lady Eagles pulled away in the third quarter to take a 72-56 victory for the fourth title in program history.
“I never said anything about a three-peat to them, I’m sure they were smart enough to think about it,” Brentwood Academy coach Rhonda Brown said. “But there’s certain things that you can do in your career that nobody can touch. We always say with state championships, you can’t take them away.”
The Lady Eagles (26-5) were led by sophomore point guard Sydni Harvey, who scored a game-high 24 points, hit all 10 of her free throw attempts and picked up her third consecutive state tournament MVP selection.
Brentwood Academy guard Sydni Harvey (3) drives past Baylor forward Abby Hubert (11) during the second half of the Tennessee Division II AA girls high school basketball championship game on Saturday.
“I’m very thankful to God because he helped me through this,” Harvey said. “And my teammates; I’ve got to thank them.”
“She’s kind of the quiet assassin,” Brown said of her Miss Basketball finalist. “You don’t really know that she’s out there, but when she needs to make buckets, she makes buckets.”
Harvey posted 10 points in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to separate the Lady Eagles from Baylor (23-8), and her output was matched by fellow Miss Basketball finalist Kaleigh Clemons.
The Lady Eagles took a 33-32 advantage into halftime thanks to a Kallie Searcy layup at the buzzer.
Baylor tied the game for the 11th and final time on a free throw to start the second half, but Brentwood Academy reeled off runs of 6-0 and 11-4 in the third quarter to push its lead to 56-45.
“I thought maybe we ran out of a little bit of gas,” Baylor coach John Gibson said. “Didn’t get the ball to bounce our way a couple times and things just kind of snowballed.”
Even though it was their third straight title, it still was an emotional day for the Lady Eagles, especially for their two seniors, Breuna Jackson and Anna Stephens.
“I felt like this one was a little more emotional for me,” Jackson said. “It was my senior year and we had the targets on our backs this year. I’m just thankful for the win.”
Reach Sam Brown at 615-259-8232 and on Twitter @SamBrownTN.