Lionettes Squash Sequatchie, Face Livingston Monday

TONY STINNETT, Courier Co-Editor


DUNLAP - Cannon County survived elimination and stormed into the semifinals of the Region 4-AA Tournament with an impressive 60-41 win against Sequatchie County here Friday (Feb. 24).

The Lionettes (26-7) were led by Jordan Hollis and Abbey Sissom with 14 points each. Lindsey Reed added nine points, Emily Pemberton netted seven, Joanna Young and Ashley Basham finished with six points each as Cannon County put together a convincing exhibition of basketball.

Cannon County will face Livingston Academy (29-3) in the Region 4-AA semifinals at White County High School Monday at 7 p.m. Upperman will play Grundy County in the other girls semifinal at 4 p.m. Winners of Monday's semifinals assure themselves a spot in the Region 4-AA Championship and a subsequent berth in the Class AA Sub-State, while losing teams are eliminated.

"We have a chance and all you can ask for is a chance," Cannon County Head Coach Michael Dodgen said.

"Livingston Academy is a good basketball team but so are we. We put ourselves in position to play in the semifinals because of an outstanding effort in this first-round region game against a good Sequatchie County team. I'm proud of the girls for coming out focused on the road against an opponent they didn't know much about and doing what they had to do to get the win."

The Lionettes fell behind 5-0 but they finished the quarter with a 12-1 run to begin the process. Basham helped get the Lionettes going with back-to-back baskets to pull them to within 5-4. Hollis knocked down two first-quarter 3-pointers and Sissom canned another as Lionettes climbed into the lead.

Pemberton keyed a strong second half with seven points, two rebounds and two assists. Madison Walkup's old-fashioned 3-point play highlighted an 18-11 spurt as Cannon County owned a 30-17 halftime lead.

Cannon County put the game out of reach with a barrage of 3-pointers to start the third quarter. Hollis bucketed back-to-back 3-pointers to start the quarter and Sissom followed with a layup as the Lionettes stretched the lead to 38-21.

Reed's 25-foot 3-pointer provided the largest lead of the game, a 44-23 advantage, with 2:20 remaining in the third quarter. Sissom later added a 22-foot trey to put the finishing touches on a third quarter in which Cannon County was 6-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from 3-point range. The Lionettes led 47-28 after three quarters.

Cannon County had 17 assists on 22 field goals.