Lady Trojans rally, end long wait for region title
Soddy-Daisy players, coaches and parents were moved to tears on the court Wednesday night.
But at the end of it all, Lady Trojans senior Jada Trimiar couldn’t help but crack a big smile.
She stepped up in the biggest way imaginable, providing the goahead basket with 1:25 remaining before sealing the Region 3-3A championship with her 15th and final rebound with 0.7 second left to play. She grinned after hitting both of her free throws to finish with a game-high 12 points and close out the 30-26 victory at Signal Mountain.
“This means the world to all of us,” Trimiar said. “Being the first Soddy-Daisy girls’ basketball team to win a region championship in 55 years is something we will always remember. This is incredible. We have such an amazing coach. Being a Lady Trojan means everything to me. My older sister (Alexis) played here and everyone loved her, and getting to play with my twin sister (Alivia) means a lot, too.”
With their first region championship since 1968 — the last time Soddy-Daisy made it to the state tournament — the Lady Trojans will now host a sectional Saturday for a chance to advance to the BlueCross Basketball State Championships when the Class 3A quarterfinals begin next week in Murfreesboro. The Lady Trojans (23-11) will face Livingston Academy (26-7), which lost 44-37 in overtime to Upperman in the Region 4-3A title game.
Signal Mountain (26-6) will visit Upperman (31-3). Sectional winners advance, with the season over for the losing teams Saturday.
Candyce Yother had the assist on Trimiar’s go-ahead score and provided a key physical presence in the second half with her defense and rebounding against the much bigger Lady Eagles.
Soddy-Daisy junior standout guard Alivia Hall was in tears in the postgame celebration after she had to watch from the bench late due to an injury. Her teammates picked her up as Melody Crawley hit a tying 3-pointer on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
Signal Mountain senior Aubryn McKendrick was unstoppable in the first half, when the 6-foot-2 center had 11 points and eight rebounds to build a 15-8 lead at the break.
“The last three games I have told my girls to never, never, never quit,” Soddy-Daisy secondyear coach Katie Wright said. “In the Bible, the words ‘Do not be afraid’ are written several times, and my girls did exactly that.
“These girls have done something Soddy-Daisy hasn’t done in a long time. They have changed the culture and cared for one another and this team. This is such a special group. I get teary eyed about them because I am not ready for this to be over. I love them so much.”
Trimiar, who came within three rebounds of her career high, and rest of the Lady Trojans will try to make sure the season goes beyond this weekend.
“Those rebounds she got for us tonight were tough,” Wright said. “She was extremely tough. I am really lost for words. Our girls took it to heart at halftime that we needed to put bodies on them, because we knew we couldn’t jump with them. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
In other region tournament finals Wednesday:
› Bradley Central 59, Cleveland 32: In 3-4A, region tournament MVP Harmony Ware had 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals, while Hannah Jones scored 19 points and had four steals as the Bearettes (31-1) ran away with the victory. Avary Brewer connected on four 3-pointers in Bradley Central’s fourth win over Cleveland this season.
Bradley Central will host Stewarts Creek and Cleveland will visit Blackman in sectionals.
› McMinn Central 75, Meigs County 37: In 2-2A, the Chargerettes (25-7) rolled behind stellar outings from Molly Masingale (22 points) and Karina Bystry (21), who also grabbed 11 rebounds. Maddox Mayfield had six assists for McMinn Central.
The Chargerettes will host Alcoa and Meigs County will visit Gatlinburg-Pittman in sectionals.
› Van Buren County 53,
Whitwell 41: In 3-1A, Courtney Zensen scored a game-high 28 points and hit six 3-pointers for Whitwell, but Van Buren scored 40 points in the second half, with Layla Bouldin leading the way with 20.
Whitwell will visit Pickett County and Van Buren will host Clarkrange in sectionals.