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She hadn't scored a single point against Jackson-South Side in Monday night's Region 6AA semifinal game here. What was worse, her team was trailing by four going into the final frame and the Lady Rebels weren't exactly crisp offensively.

Eight minutes later, Wiggins rang the bell for 11 points, stripped the South Siders three times for easy breakaway buckets and led her team to an improbable 36-30 victory.

As a result, these resilient Lady Rebels are one of 16 Class 2A teams still playing in Tennessee. Furthermore, they've earned a substate berth for the first time since the girls have been playing five-on-five (1979-80 season).

McKenzie first must play powerful Chester County for the 6AA championship 7 p.m. Wednesday night back at Lexington. Should the Lady Rebels defeat Chester County, they will host the 5AA runners-up Saturday night. If McKenzie bows to Chester County, it will head to the midstate area and play the 5AA champ. Substate winners advance to the TSSAA Class 2A state basketball tournament in Murfreesboro, starting a week from today (Wednesday).

Incidentally, Chester County edged McNairy Central in overtime 7-4 (not a misprint) to advance to the 6AA title round. McNairy employed a vapid attack that riled the Chester County faithful.
Things weren't looking real good for the Lady Rebels in the third frame. South Side held a 22-18 lead going into the fourth. That's when Wiggins decided it was time.

"I was nervous in the first half, but it eased off at the half," she said. "That's when I decided that I had to get the job done. I wasn't doing my job in the first half, so in the second half, I just went out and played."

Wiggins hit four big free throws in the final 26.9 seconds of the game, sealing the victory. Her performance served as a travel agent and the ticket she punched read "substate."

"Free throws are something we work on every day," Wiggins said. "Free throws are something we have to get done."

McKenzie scored as many points in the final frame as it did in the prior three. That was due in large part to a rarely used Lady Rebel pressure defense.

"We hadn't gotten into that thing in weeks," said an effervescent Dan Ridley, Lady Rebel coach. "We decided to jump into it and it worked."

MHS forced turnover after turnover, then forced the issue in the paint. Senior Becky Toombs started it off with some free throws. Then Jennifer Johnson added another freebie. Then Wiggins scored on a breakaway and the march to substate was on. When the dust settled and the nets cooled, McKenzie had outraced South Side 18-8 in the final eight minutes. When the horn sounded, Coach Ridley jumped so high in excitement that he got burned on re-entry.

"This is huge for our program," said Ridley. "We can build on this for the next three years."

Hope Wyder and Julie Smith each had six points for the Lady Rebs. Toombs scored five. Johnson, Jasmine McMackins, Sarah Hartz and Renee Crawley each had two.

Tomi Dotson led South Side with 15.

"This was a total team effort," said Wiggins. "Everyone contributed tonight to this win."
 

This season, however, the Lady Wildcats and Coach Larry Eddings were determined not to be left at home again. Their goal of a National Tournament berth came true on Saturday night as the Lady Wildcats fought off a valiant comeback by IUS in the final of the 2003 Women’s NAIA South Independent Regional tournament championship. The Lady ‘Cats toppled Indiana University Southeast 74-65. The Bethel College Lady Wildcats finally have their time to shine in the national spotlight.

Both teams gave the large crowd at Baker Fieldhouse a gutsy effort on Saturday night. The Lady ‘Cats came out on fire in the first half, hitting on 50% of shot attempts and opening up a 14-point advantage at the half 34-20. Senior Kelli Rich came off the bench and hit three 3-pointers and led the team in scoring with 9 points for the first half.

Sharon Allen started the second half hitting a three-point goal to extend the lead to 17 and many thought the Bethel would run away. However, the experienced and determined IUS team didn’t quit. They picked up the defensive intensity and forced Bethel into poor shots and several turnovers. The Bethel fans saw the 14-point halftime advantage vanish at the 4:28 mark when Michelle Harter hit a basket in the paint. Coach Eddings called a timeout and got the team refocused on the goal at hand. Bethel outscored Indiana Southeast 13-4 over the final four minutes to secure the victory. They hit 10-11 free throw attempts and Kelli Rich burst the IUS bubble when she nailed a three-point goal with 2:00 remaining.

Tournament MVP Megan Reynolds scored a team high 18 points, while Kelli Rich tossed in 14 points. Kayla McSweeney rounded out the double digit scoring with 11 points.
Indiana Southeast was led by Lindsey Wegley’s 21 points. Megan Mineer added 16 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Wildcats earn their first ever berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The tournament will begin March 12 and run through March 18 with play at the Sioux City Auditorium in Sioux City, Iowa. The official tournament bracket will be released on Wednesday.

Bethel held off a tough IUSE team that was playing for their third straight night as the number three seed. Bethel took a 34-20 lead into the half and looked like they were going to run away. But IUSE battled back and tied the game late in the second half at 61. Clutch baskets by tournament MVP Megan Reynolds proved to be the difference in the win.

“Our kids never blinked when the score was tied,” said Eddings.
Reynolds led Bethel with 18 points, Rich added 14 and Kayla McSweeney scored 11 points in the victory. Becky Hanks led Bethel with eight rebounds.

Bethel now waits until Wednesday when the announcement of the brackets for the NAIA Division Two National Tournament will be announced. The Lady Wildcats are scheduled to leave next Sunday and begin play on Wednesday, March 12 at the Sioux City Auditorium in Sioux City, Iowa.

The Fillies came out hitting very well as L. Lockhart led with six points, Waneca Melton added four and Ashlee Lockhart and Brooke Pritchard scored on three-point shots to give the home team a 16-14 lead after one full period of action. Eason led the Lady Lions with the first 10 points of the game, but was held to only two in the second quarter. The second period, the Fillies came out with A. Lockhart knocking down one of two three's to improve their margin to five. Melton scored two, followed by a second three from Lockhart, two more from Melton and one of two at the line from L. Lockhart as they pushed their margin to 27-16 at intermission. Eason scored the only Scotts Hill points and that was in the latter minute of the period as Pritchard stuck to her with good defensive action.

The second half, the Fillies came out prepared to slow down their game and pushed the ball around for almost two minutes before getting it inside to Melton to take a 29-16 lead. Although Eason found a way to get open enough to shoot, nailed a three-pointer and scored seven for the Lady Lions, the Fillies had more weapons and improved their margin to 41-28 by the end of three. Pritchard and L. Lockhart both hit three's, Melton scored seven and Tharpe hit one of two at the line.

If there was one fault in the Fillies game scheme, it was their inabilty to hit at the charity stripe as the seconds began to tick off the final quarter clock. After improving their margin to 17 early in the fourth period, the Fillies found Scotts Hill nailing five three-pointers and scoring 21 fourth quarter points while they were limited to 16. Also at the line they were only 10 of 20 for 50 percent. Still once the clock ticked away to under two minutes, L. Lockhart hit her final two attempts and as Eason dribbled down the court to take another three-point shot, Melton reached in for a clean steal and the game was effectively over for Scotts Hill.
The Fillies will play for the regional title at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night against University School of Jackson.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: HUNTINGDON: Waneca Melton 19, Lakeah Lockhart 13, Ashlee Lockhart 10, Brooke Pritchard 10, Kodia Tharpe 5. SCOTTS HILL: Crystal Eason 29, Samantha Thompson 8, Jessie Dennison 6, Cassie Goff 4, Chelsea Wood 2.

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