Karli Haworth (23) and the Alcoa Tornadoes took on the Westmoreland Eagles in a TSSAA Class 2A state tournament quarterfinal at Murphy Center on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The Alcoa girls won 47-38. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
MURFREESBORO – Alcoa junior point guard Karli Haworth has certainly had better days shooting the basketball other than what she showed Tuesday inside MTSU’s Murphy Center.
But when her team needed her to ice a state tournament win for the first time in more than 30 years with ball-handling and free-throw shooting, Haworth displayed those facets of her game that help make her an all-state caliber player.
“You just have to stay calm at the end of the game,” she said, “knowing that they’re probably going to come foul you.
“You just have to handle the pressure and then knock down your free throws.”
And that’s exactly what she did.
Haworth overcame a 2-for-12 day from the field but led Alcoa to a 47-38 win over Westmoreland in the Class 2A state quarterfinals with a game-high 17 points.
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She went 13 of 15 at the free-throw line, helping the Lady Tornadoes (24-12) snap Westmoreland’s 25-game win streak. Alcoa advances to Thursday’s state semifinals, where it will play Westview (30-2) at 6 p.m. Central time.
It will mark Alcoa’s first semifinal appearance since 1984.
“This is the first time we’ve ever experienced anything like this, so it’s very exciting,” said Haworth. “Just the environment, to get to play here, it’s just really fun for all of us to share as a team.”
Neither Alcoa nor Westmoreland shot particularly well Tuesday. Alcoa finished at 31.4 percent. Westmoreland (29-4) wound up at 32.5. The two programs combined to go 3-for-20 from beyond the arc. But Alcoa’s rebounding advantage proved key, grabbing 35 to Westmoreland’s 25.
Junior forward Ainsley Pfeiffer finished with 12 rebounds. Amelia Pfeiffer, a 6-foot-2 sophomore post, had nine rebounds to go with 10 points. The Pfeiffers helped The King’s Academy reach the Division II-A state championship game in 2020. They transferred to Alcoa and didn’t become eligible until Feb. 16.
“Being able to gel with this team has been great,” said Amelia Pfeiffer. “We’ve been playing with Karli and Macie (Ridge) since we were little. … And us being friends outside of basketball has been great for that (team bonding), too.”
Alcoa coach David Baumann deployed a strategic move with roughly 5 minutes to play, his team leading 34-29 after a Haworth scoop-shot layup. Once the Lady Tornadoes regained possession, he instructed Haworth, Ridge and Eden Davis to milk clock.
Alcoa ran off 1:08 before Westmoreland fouled Haworth. She made both foul shots for a 36-29 lead.
After Westmoreland scored, Alcoa ran off 1:31 before Westmoreland fouled Davis. She made both for a 38-31 lead with 2:04 to go.
And rinse and repeat.
All told, Alcoa made 13 of 14 free throws from the 3:45 mark of the fourth until 19.7 seconds remained. Ridge’s two misses with 4.2 seconds to play were inconsequential.
“At the beginning of the year, I told them this is something I thought we could do — with the guards we have and how they can shoot free throws. I watched Macon County down here last year in the state championship game and semifinals do that. They had two tremendous guards who handled the ball and knocked down free throws,” said Baumann.
“We got two pretty dang good guards who could do the same.”
Senior guard Davis got the Alcoa scoring started Tuesday, making the first bucket for the Lady Ts some 54 seconds into the contest. And her 3 at 1:35 mark in the first quarter punctuated an 11-2 Alcoa run, making for a 13-4 lead. Ainsley Pfeiffer had three blocks in the first quarter for Alcoa, but Westmoreland attacked relentlessly down low until it drew fouls. And it finally did, knocking down three of four foul shots in the final 1:18 to trim the lead to 13-7 heading into the second quarter.
Westmoreland caught up with Alcoa, 15-15, with 4:09 left in the half, using an 8-0 run. But Alcoa sophomore Trinity Hodge got a big rebound and a put-back score to give Alcoa back the lead. Ridge’s score in transition with 1:13 left before half opened up a five-point advantage.
Alcoa took a 23-20 lead into the break, having limited Westmoreland to 25 percent shooting. Westmoreland’s ability to get to the foul line, where they made nine of 14 before the break, kept the Lady Eagles near Alcoa on the scoreboard.
The Lady Tornadoes did well to keep a lead through the third. Despite 2-for-11 shooting in the third, Alcoa led 30-27 with 8 minutes to play. Alcoa fouled Bayleigh Norman in transition at the third-quarter buzzer, but she missed both and gave the Lady Tornadoes a bit more breathing room.
And room for them to dribble it out down the stretch.
5STAR PHOTOS: Alcoa Lady Tornadoes vs. Westmoreland – March 8, 2022