Lady Eagles finish second Oakwood Christian falls by two in program’s first title game

The Oakwood Christian Lady Eagles had participated in the last two Southern Christian Athletic Association Final Fours in Rossville, but had to failed win a game either time.

This past week they came within one shot of winning the whole shooting match.

Oakwood, the SCAA’s South Region regular season and tournament champion, held off Tennessee Christian Prep School in the semifinals last Tuesday before a heartbreaking two-point loss to heavily-favored Knoxville Christian School in Thursday championship game.

Oakwood girls 23, TCPS 22

The Lady Eagles got out to a doubledigit lead early in the second quarter against the Lady Hawks before having to hang on for dear life to claim the SCAA semifinal victory.

OCA led by as many as 10 in the early stages of the second quarter, but TCPS would chop the lead down to 15-10 at halftime of the lowscoring game.

TCPS would go ahead 18-17 after Raylee Evans beat the third period buzzer with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but Kylie Hall’s third triple of the game with 3:45 to play and a Maddie Lewis free throw with 1:38 to go, put Oakwood back in front by three.

The Lady Hawks would answer as Merritt Jenkins scored four straight points, but the Lady Eagles would come right back down the floor as Tori Hall assisted on a lay-up by Lewis with 12 seconds to go that put Oakwood back in front by one.

Oakwood would get called for three fouls in the final seconds, the last of which put Jenkins - the Lady Hawks’ leading scorer - on the line with just two seconds to play. But Jenkins missed the front end of the one-and-bonus and the Lady Eagles were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.

“We knew TCPS is a great team around the basket with a couple of really good players,” OCA head coach Kraig Givens explained. “Having that early lead helped. We didn’t move the ball around as much as I was wanting to, but we also didn’t have as many turnovers as we usually have and taking care of the ball really helped us.”

Kylie Hall finished with 11 for Oakwood. Tori Hall added seven points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists and Lewis had five points. Annika Green had a rare scoreless night, but collected eight big rebounds. The Lady Eagles had just 13 turnovers on the night as they won their sixth game in a row.

Knoxville Christian girls 38, Oakwood 36

The Lady Knights won both regular season meetings by 16 and 18 points, but things would be much different in the finals.

Tied at 30 midway through the final period, the Lady Knights - who dressed just six players - saw two players foul out in less than a minute. But KCS would still somehow manage to claim a win over the Lady Eagles in the championship game.

“I thought we had that one. I really did,” OCA head coach Kraig Givens said. “We figured them defensively this time and we were able to keep a good scoring team from scoring.”

Oakwood rebounded from a 12-9 deficit in the first quarter to take a 21-20 lead the break. A jumper by Kylie Hall with 35 seconds left in the third gave her team its biggest lead of the night, 29-25, to start the fourth quarter.

But the Lady Knights would mount a comeback behind the play of point guard Rebecca Corbo, despite playing the last 3:27 with just four players on the floor.

Down 34-31 in the late stages, Kylie Hall would tie things up on a 3-pointer from the wing as a pro-Oakwood crowd was whipped into a frenzy.

But Cobro would hit 1-of-2 at the line with 50 seconds left and Zephanie Snyder would steal an inbound pass and connecting on a lay-up to give her team a 37-34 advantage with 34 seconds to play.

The Lady Eagles would miss a short jumper and the ensuing putback, but managed to get the rebound and kick it out to Kylie Hall, who was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds to go. Hall would make the first two, but missed on the third as Cobro hustled for the rebound and was immediately fouled.

The KCS point guard would make 1-of-2 with 6.9 left, leaving OCA with a chance to tie or win the game. Green pushed the ball up the floor and found Kylie Hall open on the wing. The junior was able to get off a shot just before the buzzer, but the attempt missed its mark.

Cobro had 15 points for KCS, despite

battling foul trouble in the second half.

Kylie Hall had a pair of 3-pointers and led all scorers with 17 points. Green finished with six, while Lewis and Mary Catherine Ownby had four each.

“These girls have fought hard for years to get to this point,” Givens said. “They all love the game and love each other, so (making the finals) is definitely awesome for our program. It’s a great group of girls to work. I know they are always going to give me everything they’ve got.”

Givens said his team would greatly miss Tori Hall, the Lady Eagles’ lone senior, who played her final game in an Oakwood uniform.

“If you look at our team, she’s the last player you’d want to lose,” he added. “But we still have a lot coming back, a lot to look forward to and we have a bright future.”

Kylie and Tori Hall were both named to the SCAA’s All-Conference Team.