Maryville coach Scott West hugs his player and daughter, No. 14 Taylor West, after the Lady Rebels earned a state tournament berth on Saturday, March 7, 2020. (Photo: Kenneth Richmond/5Star Preps)
By DAVE LINK
MARYVILLE — There was little drama in the final minutes Saturday night when the Maryville girls’ basketball team clinched the program’s first state tournament berth since 1999.
The Lady Rebels (30-4) led from start to finish – building a 22-point in the third quarter – on their way to a 64-50 victory over Daniel Boone (20-13) in the Class AAA state sectional round.
When it ended, Maryville coach Scott West watched his players cut down a net, one by one, until it was the seniors’ turns, and then the coaches’ turns.
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Finally, West and his daughter, senior guard Taylor West, finished cutting down the net together.
“We talked about getting to Murfreesboro (for the state tournament),” Scott West said, “and we talked about our goals, and we’re right there, but we’re not happy just to get there. We’re going down there to do something, so right now we’ll enjoy it. We’ll go tomorrow and get the draw and see where we lay, and then let’s get back to work and see what we can do.”
Maryville will play its Class AAA state opener on Wednesday.
Getting to Murfreesboro was the goal years ago for the Lady Rebels’ four seniors: guards Taylor West and Katie Cunningham, forward Grayson Patterson, and post Jazz Ervin.
Patterson, who’s signed to be a soccer goalie at Tusculum, began playing basketball for Scott West as a fifth grader for an AAU team called the Skyhawks.
“It’s been a ride,” Patterson said. “Coach West has preached and built us up since fifth grade to do this. This is our senior year and this is what we came to do. We’ve been waiting four years and we’ve come short the other times, but we’re ready now and we’ve been ready since the fifth grade.”
West is in his ninth year as the Maryville girls’ coach and was an assistant on the boys’ team when the Rebels won the Class AAA state championship in 2007.
5STAR PHOTOS — Daniel Boone at Maryville Lady Rebels, Class AAA sectional
After Saturday’s game, West was looking at a photograph of the boys’ 2007 state title team on the gym’s wall, imagining what a photo of his 2020 girls’ state title team would look like next to it.
“We’d like to move that (photograph) over a little bit,” West said. “I’m up there in ’07. I don’t think I look much different. It’d be nice to put another picture up there and let’s see what we’ve got. We’re excited, obviously. It will hit me here in a little bit as we roll on, but I’m just so proud of this group of kids and what they’ve accomplished.”
Junior guard/forward Denae Fritz scored 12 of her game-high 25 points in the first quarter and grabbed 10 rebounds against Daniel Boone.
The Miss Basketball finalist was 7 of 12 on two-point shots, 2 of 4 from 3-point range, and 5 of 6 from the foul line.
Fritz is averaging more than 22 points and 12 rebounds per game.
“It’s really big to have Denae because when we play big teams like Daniel Boone, we have to have rebounders,” Patterson said. “Not all of us can rebound like Denae. It means so much to have her because she can get 19 boards and 30 points, and that is huge.”
Patterson came off the bench and had 11 points, making three consecutive 3-pointers in the second quarter, and Cunningham and Gracie Midkiff had nine points each.
Maryville was 9 of 16 from 3-point range with Midkiff and Patterson making three each and Taylor West one.
Senior forward Jaycie Jenkins led Daniel Boone with 21 points, which is about her season average.
Cunningham started out the game guarding Jenkins, a task that went to Fritz when Cunningham got in foul trouble.
“Jaycie Jenkins is a really good player, and we knew they were going to go to her, and they did,” Scott West said. “Denae got a little tired there maybe at the end, but she’s a warrior, and we’re so lucky to have (Fritz).”
Fritz got the Lady Rebels rolling with a 12-4 run to start the game. She scored all 12 points during the run on a layup, two free throws, a bank shot, and back-to-back 3-pointers.
Maryville had a 13-8 lead after one quarter.
The Lady Rebels were up 17-12 with 7 minutes left in the half and finished it with a 16-3 run. Patterson had three 3-pointers from the top of the key during the run.
“(Patterson’s) shots were great, but what was really great was her defensive pressure and her rebounding,” West said. “She did a great job of that, and the icing on the cake were the 3s. That really sparked us and put us to about an 18-point lead, and then we just kind of held on.”
Maryville had a 46-24 lead after Taylor West’s 3-pointer with 4:30 left in the third and had a 51-30 lead starting the fourth.
Boone cut the deficit to 12 on Jenkins’ layup with 2:04 left to play.
“I know we had to hold on,” West said. “We had some struggles there in there in the fourth, but this team has persevered all year and I didn’t have any doubt they would again.”
Cunningham doesn’t doubt her team, either.
“We’re a tight-knit group,” she said. “We’ve played together for a long time and that’s kind of how we flow. You can see it in a game. We’ve just been doing it for a long time, and it’s just a great group of girls.”
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