Elizabethton held off a furious rally and advanced on Friday evening.
The Lady Cyclones jumped out early and then held Grainger off for a 50-41 victory in the Region 1-3A Quarterfinal action in Elizabethton. With the win, Elizabethton advances to Monday’s semifinal against Greeneville at Grainger.
EHS held control early.
Points were hard to come by in the opening minutes as Addison Bunn hit a 3-pointer to open scoring, and her second trey of the night gave EHS a 6-0 lead with 3:24 left in the quarter. EHS pushed the lead to 11-2 before Grainger reeled off a 5-0 run to close the gap to 11-7 after a quarter of play.
The teams traded shots to open the second before Bunn sparked a 9-0 EHS run to end the half – a run that featured shots from Adrian Heading and Jamira Smalls. Elizabethton led 25-12 at the half.
EHS scored 12 of the first 14 points off the third quarter to take a 37-14 advantage midway through the quarter. The Lady Griz, however, ended the quarter on a 17-1 run to cut the EHS lead to 38-31 after three complete quarters.
After Grainger hit a 3-pointer to open the fourth, Bunn hit four straight free throws to snap the run. The Lady Griz closed the gap to five points with under three minutes to play, but Rylee May hit a pair of free throws and a huge 3-pointer to secure the win for Elizabethton.
Bunn led the way with 12 points, while Sydney Minton had 10 points. Smalls added nine points.
Adison Hayes led Grainger with 14 points. Brooklyn Roach added 10 points.
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