Lady Bobcats lose in state semifinal 63-45

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:19 p.m.

MURFREESBORO—The Lady Bobcats made it to the final four, but they fell short of advancing to the state championship game, losing to Clarkrange 63-45 in a state semifinal game in Murfreesboro on Saturday.

The Lady Bobcats (29-7) were unable to repeat their shooting performance of a day earlier. On Friday, Oliver Springs shot 60 percent from the field in a 67-41 blowout over Decatur County Riverside in a Class A quarterfinal game. But on Saturday, the Lady Bobcats were 32 percent from the field (16 of 50).

The Lady Buffaloes (31-5) got off to a 17-1 start and were up 34-17 at halftime, thanks in part to six three-point shots, or 18 points total. The Lady Bobcats were able to narrow the lead to seven (20-13) on a jumper by senior guard Emily Griffith late in the first quarter, but that was as close as they got.

Oliver Springs, which hadn’t been to the state tournament since 2009, narrowed the lead to 44-33 on a 15-10 run in the third quarter.

Emily Griffith and her twin sister Rachel Griffith each had 15 points. But no other Lady Bobcat had more than seven.

Clarkrange, which has big post players, also had two players with 15 points each: senior forward Brittany Cooper and senior guard Faith Van Ruden. And sophomore center Kara Meadows (6-foot-3) added 14 more.

Meadows also pulled down 10 rebounds and added three assists, and Cooper (5-foot-11) had seven rebounds and three assists.

The Lady Bobcats shot 56 percent from the free-throw line (9 of 16), compared to 83 percent for the Lady Buffaloes (15 of 18). Oliver Springs did not shoot as well from three-point range or the free-throw line as they had on Friday.

Junior wing Lauren Morgan, who scored 12 points for Oliver Springs on Friday, was held scoreless on Saturday.

Clarkrange advances to Sunday’s championship game at 3:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. Eastern) against top-ranked Middleton (33-0), which prevailed in a down-to-the-wire 59-58 victory over South Greene in the other semifinal game on Saturday.

It’s the 10th state title game for Clarkrange. They are 8-1 in championship games. The last championship they played in was 2009.

The 2015 BlueCross Basketball Championships are being played at Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

The Oak Ridge Wildcats will play there in a Division I Class AAA boys’ quarterfinal game at 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m. Eastern) Wednesday, March 11. The Wildcats (29-3) will take on Memphis East (19-9).

See the Oliver Springs and Clarkrange team stats here.

See the final team box stats here.

More information will be added as it becomes available.