In a title bout, Cloudland was unable to deliver a knockout punch.
The Lady ‘Landers fell short in the District 1-A Championship game at Baileyton as North Greene took a 38-32 victory.
Cloudland earned the No. 2 seed from District 1-A for the upcoming Region 1-A tournament and will host Washburn inside Sonny Smith Gymnasium on Friday night.
Points were at a premium all game Monday night.
After NG took a 4-0 lead two minutes into the game, Jasmine Birchfield opened the scoring for Cloudland. North Greene pushed the lead to 7-2 with five minutes, but neither team was able to get back the board for the next three minutes.
Ella Benfield added a pair of free throws and Mandy Benfield added a basket, but Cloudland trailed 9-6 after a quarter of play.
North Greene pushed the lead to 13-6 in the opening minute of the second quarter. Benfield and Birchfield snapped the Lady Huskies run as Cloudland pulled back within one possession.
The teams traded shots to end the half as North Greene held a slim 19-16 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, Cloudland held North Greene without a field goal, but the Lady Huskies scored the first five points of the quarter from the free-throw line.
The Lady ‘Lander offense saw E. Benfield start a 7-0 run as CHS pulled within one point with three minutes left in the third.
NG, however, scored a pair of free throws with the 2:48 remaining in the quarter – which proved to be the last points of the quarter – to take a 26-23 lead into the final quarter.
Cloudland countered a 4-0 North Greene run with a trey from Freeman and a jumper from Saharra McKinney as the Lady ‘Landers once again pulled back within a shot.
After the Lady Huskies pushed the lead back to five points, Cloudland’s
Birchfield closed the lead again to three points. In the closing minutes, North Greene was able to keep the Lady ‘Landers at bay to take the win.
Birchfield had 10 points to lead the Lady ‘Landers, while Freeman had nine points. M. Benfield and E. Benfield had six and five points, respectively.
Brooklyn Anderson led North Greene with 13 points, while Haleigh Bernard had 12 points.
For more photos, click here.
