A Look Around UC Sports Nation: Cookeville Hosts Stone For District Championship

Photo by Kailee Means / UC Sports Nation

The postseason is now in full swing, as the weather has finally subsided and teams are able to get back on the court for District Tournaments.

Over the weekend, we saw four total teams eliminated from postseason play, as the Clarkrange Buffaloes, Monterey Lady Wildcats and DeKalb County Lady Tigers and Tigers all saw their seasons come to an end.

Here is a look at who will be in action on Monday night around UC Sports Nation.

Cookeville Vs. Stone Memorial

If you are looking for the game of the night, look no further.

The Cookeville Lady Cavs will host the Stone Memorial Panthers in the District 6AAA Championship game after the Lady Cavs handled Warren County and Stone took down White County. The two teams split the two regular season meetings, as Cookeville won the first meeting 42-40 at home, led by Jordan Gillies (13 points) and Cassie Gallagher (11 points)

The Lady Panthers responded by winning the meeting in Crossville by a 69-39 tally, a game in which Tessa Miller put together a 24-point, 19-rebound double-double. Cookeville will be hosting as the top seed after winning the tiebreaker, based on fewest points allowed in district play.

Keaton Freitag will be a big X-factor for Stone, as she’s played some of her best ball of the season in the last couple of weeks. She scored a career-high 21 points in a 57-53 win over Class A power Clarkrange, and in the Lady Panthers’ win over White County on Saturday, she scored 20 points to aid Miller’s 25.

As for Cookeville, the combined efforts of Gallagher and KK Graves will be of the utmost importance, but Bailey Gillies is also a player to keep an eye on. Her 12 points on Saturday were third on the team and her defense on Freitag and Stone’s other guards will be crucial for Cookeville to come away with a win.

Livingston Academy Vs. Watertown, Smith County

Both LA teams will have home games in the District 8AA Quarterfinals, meaning they will both be the fresher of the two teams to take the court.

First for the girls, the Lady Cats are currently on a 12-game stretch where they’ve won 10 of those games, but it’s been 11 days since they last played. They will host Watertown in the first game of a double-header, and it’s worth pointing out that they swept the two regular season meetings.

They won at Watertown on Jan. 25 by a final score of 51-45, and won the home meeting by a 44-39 margin. Aleah Melton has been playing some really good ball for the Lady Cats of late, as she scored a game-high 25 points in their season finale win over Cannon County.

On the boys side, the Wildcats host a Smith County team that is coming off of a comeback win over DeKalb County on Sunday.

Much will be said about LA being the fresher of the two teams, but the Wildcats are on a hot streak of their own as of late. Just like the girls, Livingston’s boys have won 10 of their last 12 games, and swept both meetings with Smith County during the season.

Besides the obvious player to watch in Matthew Sells, Nick Choate should be in line for a big game seeing as he has a size advantage over any post Smith County currently boasts.

Two spots in the region tournaments are on the line, and two teams will be going home for the offseason tonight.

Jackson County Vs. Gordonsville, Red Boiling Springs

The Jackson County Lady Devils and Blue Devils sit one game away from the region tournament, and both will have to earn it against tough competition tonight.

The Lady Devils will hit the road to take on Red Boiling Springs, a team they lost to twice to this season. The key to a win is balanced scoring, like they got in their win over Trousdale on Saturday.

It would be easy for either of these teams to look past the other, as whoever wins this game has to travel to Fentress County on Tuesday for a date with top-seed Clarkrange, but a region tournament berth for either team would be a big deal.

The Blue Devils are in a similar situation, though they get the benefit of hosting Gordonsville, a team they split with in the regular season.

For Jackson County, it would be their first region tournament appearance since Feb. 24, 2018, and to get there, they’ll need their best players in Ramon Cuevas, Jordon Arroyo and Eli Buries to play well.

Elsewhere Around UC Sports Nation

The White County Warriorettes host Warren County, and the last time these teams met, it went down to the wire in a 53-46 win for the Warriorettes.

The York Institute Dragonettes will host Watertown, as York looks to win their third game this season over the visitors.

The Lady Bobcats of Pickett County host Gordonsville, a team they’ve held to an average of 19.5 points per game in Pickett’s two wins over them.

Monterey will hit the road to Trousdale after beating Clarkrange on Friday. In their visit to Trousdale on Jan. 12, the Wildcats nearly came away with a win, but fell just short by a 68-65 tally.

The Eaglettes of Van Buren will also be playing in a district championship, as they host Whitwell in a game that is sure to steal the slate of games for Monday night. These two teams split in the regular season, with the road team winning both games.