Region Tournament Recap: Cookeville, Upperman Win Championships

The Cookeville Lady Cavaliers and Upperman Lady Bees each won their respective Region Tournament Championships Wednesday, and in the process, earned home games for Saturday’s Sectional round – the final step before the State Tournament.

Chaylin Cunningham scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Jordan Gillies had a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds, in Cookeville’s 54-49 victory over Beech to claim the Region 3-4A Tournament Championship. Cookeville notched their 30th win of the season (30-1) and will host Ravenwood in Saturday night’s Sectional at 7:00 p.m. The Lady Raptors (23-9) lost to Hillsboro, 38-27, in the Region 6-4A Championship game.

Meanwhile, Jayla Cobb scored 24 points and snagged MVP honors in leading the Lady Bees (28-5) over top-ranked Page, 50-47, in the Region 4-3A Tournament Championship. Abigail Johnson added 14 points and joined Cobb and Brooklyn Crouch on the All-Tournament Team. Upperman has won 13 in a row, and will host East Hamilton (16-12), Saturday night, with a trip to the State Tournament on the line. A win in the Sectionals would give the Lady Bees their first appearance in the State Tournament since they won the Class AA title in 2018.

The results weren’t as good for the three other Upper Cumberland teams in Wednesday’s Region Championships. Van Buren County (19-11) lost to district rival, Whitwell, 54-47, in the Region 3-1A Championship, marking the fourth time this season the Lady Eagles were defeated by the Lady Tigers. Van Buren County will travel to Red Boiling Springs (24-7) for Saturday’s Sectional round, after the Lady Bulldogs upset Clay County (24-5), 54-40, in the Region 4-1A Championship. Clay County will travel to Whitwell for the Sectionals.

York Institute, meanwhile, struggled offensively against a talented Westmoreland team, and lost the Region 3-2A Championship, 33-26. The Dragonettes (24-6) will travel to Unionville to play Community (25-7) in the Sectionals. The Viqueens upended East Nashville (23-2), in the Region 4-2A Championship.

Here are Saturday’s girls’ Sectional round games involving Upper Cumberland teams (all games start at 7 p.m.):

Class 1A
(24-5) Clay Co. at (25-8) Whitwell
(19-11) Van Buren Co. at (24-7) Red Boiling Springs

Class 2A
(24-6) York Institute at (25-7) Community

Class 3A
(16-12) East Hamilton at (28-5) Upperman

Class 4A
(23-9) Ravenwood at (30-1) Cookeville