MURFREESBORO – Haleigh Bernard couldn’t have picked a better time to make her first 3-pointer of the game Wednesday.
With just two seconds left in North Greene’s Class A state quarterfinal against vaunted Gibson County, the senior forward got the pass near the top of the key, took a millisecond to gather herself and then shot from NBA range.
Elation ensued.
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Her buzzer-beater gave the Lady Huskies a 43-40 win over Gibson County and sent them into Friday’s Class A semifinals to face Summertown, which beat Clarkrange in overtime.
For North Greene (27-7), it’s the program’s first state-tournament win since 2011. Bernard finished with seven point and was 1-for-5 from the 3-point line. North Greene struggled there all game, going just 2-for-17 around the perimeter.
Gibson County (33-2) perhaps got a false sense of dominance in the game, jumping to 14-0 lead in the first quarter.
But North Greene tied the game at 22-all before the break.
Still, Gibson County mounted a second surge and led by seven entering the final quarter. But Brooklyn Anderson, the standout for North Greene on Wednesday, gave North Greene a 38-37 lead with 5 minutes, 5 seconds to play. And the Lady Huskies never trailed again.
Anderson finished with 18 points, 22 rebounds, six blocks and five steals. Her 18 defensive rebounds set a new TSSAA state tournament record. Her 22 total rebounds were one shy of the state mark.
North Greene has only reached the state final once, that coming in 2011 when the Lady Huskies finished runner-up. Their semifinal against Summertown (29-3) will be at 11:30 a.m. Central time on Friday at MTSU.