More of TN's Substate Clashes to Determine Who's Boro Bound

We dive into Cleveland's return to state for the first time since 2008, Sevier County, North Green, and Gatlinburg-Pittman all returning to state.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Cleveland High School (23-9) 40   Blackman (18-9) 38   The Lady Blaze end a streak of 3 consecutive state tournament appearances with their close home loss to visiting Cleveland HS. Cleveland is going dancing for first time since 2008!   (And...it really is a big deal that Bradley County has TWO 4A schools in the state tournament! Glad to see girls basketball alive and well once again in Cleveland TN!)   Once the game action started, the Lady Blaze jumped out on Cleveland quickly, take an early 11-1 lead, and then a 19-11 lead late in the 2nd quarter. But Cleveland took advantage of a couple weird oppurtunties ( a 4 point play and a Blackman technical) to tie the game at 19 at the half.   The Blackman defense worked incredibly hard to keep the ball out of Hursts hands, and limited her to only 5 shots. She still ultimately was ultra effective taking was the defense gave and not forcing the issue. She trusted her teammates on offense, and protected the rim on D. I thought she was great even those the stats aren't eye popping.   The Cleveland was ultimately dominant in this game, and if you can hold a team under 40 on the road, you've got a great shot at winning. I thought Cleveland challenged every shot, and did a fantastic job on Blackman's ball screen and handoff actions. Cleveland was well prepared.   In the 2nd half, Cleveland jumped up to a three point lead at the end of the third. Blackman's [player_tooltip player_id='513280' first='Amirah' last='Herring'] hit a huge three however, as the two teams swapped leads. But, the Lady Blaze would only score 1 point after that.   Cleveland's game plan to key in on [player_tooltip player_id='245361' first='Kaelyn' last='Flowers'] and [player_tooltip player_id='366664' first='Lyriq' last='Mastin'] was effective. Mastin's incredible tourney run came to an end with 15 points, and Flowers scored 12 (the 2 stars still had 27 of Blackman's 38 points).   Cleveland HS   [player_tooltip player_id='804739' first='Callie' last='Brewer'] 12 points, 7 rebounds   [player_tooltip player_id='409019' first='Lauren' last='Hurst'] 8 points, 2-5 from the field, 1-2 from 3, 3-6 FT, 11 rebounds   [player_tooltip player_id='409092' first='Tamiah' last='Tanner'] 5 points   [player_tooltip player_id='811495' first='Laney' last='Copeland'] '27 2 points   [player_tooltip player_id='821777' first='Emily' last='Patterson'] '27 5 points, 3 rebounds   [player_tooltip player_id='810500' first='Emma' last='Smith'] 8 points, 2-5 from 3, 2-2 FTs, 3 rebounds   Dycus Thoughts:   Just a tremendous win for a Cleveland team that has a new coach, lost 7 seniors.....but figured out a way to keep winning when it mattered. AND....next year I expect them to be better as I really like their '25s and they have a really nice crew of young kids coming up.   ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________   Sevier County (31-3) 69   Bearden (30-4) 55   Both Bearden and Sevier County were carrying 30-3 records heading into their substate matchup. Sevier County won 69-55 Bearden. Sevier County defended their home court with a passion, and gave Bearden its worst loss on the year.   I had an extremely hard time hunting down stats for Sevier County for this game.   Sevier County's [player_tooltip player_id='877807' first='Kinley' last='Loveday'], [player_tooltip player_id='631090' first='Cybil' last='Penland'], [player_tooltip player_id='821733' first='Kaliyah' last='Burden'], [player_tooltip player_id='290720' first='Aubree' last='Laney'], [player_tooltip player_id='620586' first='Maggie' last='Townsend'] all contributed to the win.   Final Stats for Bearden:   [player_tooltip player_id='513233' first='Natalya' last='Hodge'] 21 points @natalyahodge2   [player_tooltip player_id='654019' first='Kendall' last='Anne Murphy'] 12 points @kendallmurphy_1   [player_tooltip player_id='516540' first='Aisha' last='Patel'] 11 points @aishapatel8507   Rachael Wilhoit 5 points @rachael_wilhoit   [player_tooltip player_id='245384' first='Lindsay' last='Wilson'] 3 points @lindsaywilson02   [player_tooltip player_id='479777' first='Amanda' last='Parker'] 3 @amandap2024   Dycus Thoughts:   Sevier County simply dominated this basketball game, and their abundance of senior leadership and 1,000 scorers paid off. It's really hard to bet against them, but now Sevier has Bartlett on Wednesday morning. Bartlett has won 13 of 14, and as always, has multiple college kids. Bartlett also beat Sevier Co by 20 (57-37) last March, and Bartlett's [player_tooltip player_id='290717' first='Carrington' last='Jones'] and [player_tooltip player_id='890333' first='Akya' last='Woods'] are playing superb.   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   North Greene (26-10) 33   Midway (22-8) 31   In a matchup of two of my favorite A teams, North Greene pulled out a nail biter over Midway. I've enjoyed watching both squads: North Greene has the Twin Towers, and Midway has Caywood and the perfect group to complement her.   The Lady Waves were up two (26-24) heading into the final quarter, but two tough buckets from [player_tooltip player_id='892984' first='Hannah' last='Miller'] and Haley Bailey (the Twin Towers) gave the Lady Huskies a 28-26 lead that they'd never relinquish.   The North Greene Lady Huskies are going to the state tournament for a remarkable 5th straight year. They will face Greenfield at 4:00 CT Wednesday.   [player_tooltip player_id='876365' first='Hailey' last='Bailey'] had a game high 13 points. [player_tooltip player_id='892984' first='Hannah' last='Miller'] also almost had a double double, and did a fantastic job protecting the rim.   Midway Final Stats:   Abbie Parks 10 points, 3 rebounds   [player_tooltip player_id='816926' first='Kyleigh' last='Cawood'] 9 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals   [player_tooltip player_id='632111' first='Addison' last='Armes'] 6 points, 3 blocks, 2 rebounds   [player_tooltip player_id='1242097' first='Tatum' last='Collier'] 3 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals   Kali Kile 2 points, 4 rebounds   <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />   Gatlinburg-Pittman (33-3) 67   Meigs Co (22-11) 27   Meigs started the gave nice defensively vs Gatlinburg-Pittman in the first quarter, but it didn't take long for GP to assert their dominance. GP started the game on a 7-0 run, Meigs answered with an Alexis Kranz jumper and [player_tooltip player_id='1096006' first='Lila' last='Brown'] free throw to make it 7-3 with 3:00 left before GP ended the quarter on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 20-5 lead.   Gatlinburg Pittman led 45-16 at the half, 59-23 after three and outscored Meigs 8-4 in the final running-clock fourth quarter to reach the 67-27 final.   Meigs had a successful 22 win year, but are losing some key seniors. They do have some youngsters ready to step up into bigger roles, and it's likely that Alexis Kranz, [player_tooltip player_id='1096006' first='Lila' last='Brown'], Taylor Mahone, [player_tooltip player_id='816605' first='Ainsley' last='King'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1097645' first='Kaydence' last='Schaumburg'] will see bumps in production.   As for Gatlinburg Pittman, they were simply dominant, and are ready to begin the state tournament. This game was never in question.   Gatlinburg Pittman Stats:   [player_tooltip player_id='513232' first='Nya' last='Burns'] 18 points, [player_tooltip player_id='245364' first='Maddy' last='Newman'] 15 points, [player_tooltip player_id='877998' first='Leah' last='Stinnett'] 9, [player_tooltip player_id='435647' first='Maliyah' last='Glasper'] 7, [player_tooltip player_id='900232' first='Addi' last='Wear'] 6, [player_tooltip player_id='878096' first='Trinity' last='Whaley'] 5, Graycee Valentine 3, Ella Stinnett 2   Meigs Stats:   [player_tooltip player_id='804732' first='Julia' last='Howard'] 8, Alexis Kranz 7, [player_tooltip player_id='816605' first='Ainsley' last='King'] 6, Lainey Fitzgerald 3   Dycus Thoughts:   Really nice to see [player_tooltip player_id='513232' first='Nya' last='Burns'] '26 get going for 18. GP has proven that in the scoring department, both Newman and Glasper can take over a game. Burns is good enough to get hot and win you a quarter or two. Same with [player_tooltip player_id='877998' first='Leah' last='Stinnett']. I really like this team's depth and versatility heading into the AA state tourney.

We dive into Cleveland's return to state for the first time since 2008, Sevier County, North Green, and Gatlinburg-Pittman all returning to state.