It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of games, but the Lady Cyclones will take the end result.
Elizabethton overcame a sluggish first half to survive and advance in the TSSAA BlueCross Basketball Championships with a 38-34 victory over Westview on Friday evening inside the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro.
The Lady Cyclones advanced to play Martin Luther King in the semifinals on Saturday night with the win.
The first half was offensively challenged for EHS.
After Westview scored the game’s opening points, Elizabethton evened the score with a Kelci Marosites jumper. The Lady Chargers, however, ran out to a 12-2 lead before Megan Pietrowski added a layup, but the Lady Cyclones trailed 12-4 after a quarter of play.
The second quarter saw Westview extend the lead back to 10 points before Kayla Marosites added a free throw. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively as Kyra McCrary added two free throws which were the only other Elizabethton points in the quarter. However, the Lady Cyclones kept Westview in check as they trailed 16-7 at the end of the first quarter.
In the third quarter, Elizabethton came to life.
Melenda Perry kicked off a 10-1 run that included shots from Ke. Marosites and Sarah Robinson. That run allowed Elizabethton to tie the game at 17-17. After the teams traded points, Ka. Marosites hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 22-22 heading to the final quarter.
Ka. Marsites opened the fourth quarter with a jumper that gave the Lady Cyclones their first lead of the game, and Robinson and Pietrowski added shots that gave Elizabethton a six point lead. After a pair of Ke. Marosites free throws pushed the lead to eight points, the Lady Chargers closed the gap to two points with 1:17 on the clock.
However, Ka. Marosites added a pair of free throws to counter a Westview layup. Robinson iced the win by adding a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining.
Ka. Marosites led the way with 10 points, while sister Kelcie tossed in eight points. Robinson and Pietrowski had eight points apiece.
Tasia Jones led Westview with 14 points.
As a team, Westview shot 40% of the floor while Elizabethton shot 37%. The Lady Cyclones, who went 2-of-16 in the first half, finished the game by shooting 11-of-19.
The Lady Cyclones now turn their attention to the Martin Luther King Lady Royals. MLK enter the game with a 26-6 record, and advanced to the state tournament by upsetting previously undefeated CPA. The Lady Royals dispatched Cannon County 69-48 in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The semifinal matchup is set for 9 p.m., CT inside the Murphy Center.
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