Sycamore celebrates their 51-46 district championship win over the Cheatham Lady Cubs (Photo: The Post)
The Sycamore Lady War Eagles earned themselves the District 9AA title over the weekend, beating rival Lady Cubs, 51-46.
Following a split regular season, the ladies from Sycamore and Cheatham met in Fairview on Friday evening to battle it out in the district championship game.
The matchup began with intense defense on both sides, resulting in only four points per team to close out the first quarter. Heading into the locker room at the half, the Lady War Eagles held a shaky three-point lead, but steadily built upon it throughout the third quarter.
To start the fourth, the Lady War Eagles held a more sturdy grip, holding a seven-point lead over the Cubs.
With just 30 seconds left in regulation, Cheatham sophomore Montana Lee sunk a three, getting the Cubs within five, but a foul sent Sycamore senior McKenleigh Young to the line whose pair of free throws widened Sycamore's lead to seven- giving them the upper hand for the duration of the clock.
Players, coaching staff, and managers pose for a picture after the win over Cheatham on Saturday (Photo: Submitted)
Not succumbing to Cheatham's ball pressure, a seemingly unstoppable Izzy McPherson (junior)-- who reached her 1000th point the previous night--racked up 26 points, her second highest game of the season; she added 7 rebounds and two blocks to her stats. Senior Kyra Shearon contributed 11 points, and Young added seven points, four steals, and five rebounds. Senior Raegan Hunter helped keep the momentum going with four rebounds and three points.
"This program has been building toward this for years, we have just fallen short for various reasons both in our control and not," says Sycamore Head Coach Cody King. "I'm just so happy for this group! This really has been earned. They put in the work to finally get to this point."
"Special shout out to this senior group that has put in countless hours to build a legacy for this program," King adds. "They are a special group and I am so glad that they are experiencing success after all their hard work. They have raised the bar of what is expected year in and year out in this program. As great as this team is on the court, they are even better individuals off of it. They make good decisions, are active in their school and community, and are just an amazing group. The hope is that we this district championship is just the start of a historically great season for this program."
For Cheatham, senior Katelyn Sisco put up 14 points, Lee added 11, and junior Ellie Pardue and freshman Gracie Weakley each had six.
Cheatham's head coach, Jim Gibbs, was named Coach of the Year.
Regional play will begin for both Sycamore and Cheatham on Friday, February 24- with each team having home-court advantage.
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