Lady Indian Season Ends as Coffee County Brews Quarterfinal Victory
The Dobyns-Bennett Lady Indians historical season came to end Wednesday afternoon in a 48-39 defeat to Coffee County in the TSSAA Class 4A quarterfinals at the Murphy Center. The Lady Raiders (34-3) never trailed after netting the game’s first nine points, leading by as many as 14 along the way and eventually winning by the same opening spurt differential. “It’s hard to spot teams nine or ten points and battle back in this environment,” said Dobyns-Bennett coach Bill Francis. With its offense percolating through 6-4 junior Channah Gannon, Coffee County stirred to a 22-9 lead after one period. The Division I prospect scored eight of her 12 points in the opening period, either forcing her way to the basket and drawing fouls or finding others doing the same. Gannon was 6-for-6 at the charity stripe in the first quarter and Coffee County was a perfect 11-for-11 at the free throw line in the opening stanza. “We put them on the line too much,” noted Francis. “Those are freebies. When you go to the line and hit the free ones, that gets you going.” Coffee County’s biggest lead came at 32-18. It was 32-20 at the break after Caroline Hill’s swished shot from side mid-court was ruled just a tick behind the buzzer. A counted three-ball by Hill got Dobyns-Bennett to within eight at 34-26 and five straight by freshman Sally McReynolds had the Lady Indians within five, 36-31, late in the third. After the Lady Raiders pulled back out by nine, two three-pointers by Kaydence Black kept Dobyns-Bennett close at 42-36 and 44-39. But Coffee County kept making foul shots, 21-of-23 overall, to put the game away. “The difference today was the free throw line,” continued Francis. “21-of-23 for them verses 2-of-5 for us.” Francis said Dobyns-Bennett’s plan was to attack the rim, even against the size-superior Lady Raiders. “At the state tournament, you have to get to the rim and put the pressure on the officials,” explained Francis. “I thought we got there a couple of times.” Gannon was credited with three blocks, but it felt like more. Dobyns-Bennett took 38 field goal attempts in the game, half of which came outside the arc. “We drove inside and the big girl (Gannon) blocked a couple of shots,” continued Francis. “I didn’t think we settled for the perimeter or anything.” Meanwhile the Lady Raiders just had a few more attempts from the field than from the line, finishing 12-for-28. After the 22 first-quarter points, Coffee County had only 26 in the final three. “You hold a team like that to 16 points in the second half, I’m pretty proud of that,” said Francis. “We gave ourselves a chance, and that’s what we came down to do, give ourselves a chance.” Gannon, who is being courted by ETSU, Samford, Chattanooga and MTSU, had just four more points after the first period. “To me we did a pretty good job on her,” added Francis. “I was really proud and I thought we really battled and made it tough on her.” Coffee County’s Natalie Barnes led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. Lipscomb commit Olivia Vinson, a 6-1 junior, came through with seven points and was a thorn on top of the Raiders’ 1-3-1 zone defense. Freshman point guard Jules Ferrell tossed in six points. Hill and Black both scored 11 points to lead Dobyns-Bennett with McReynolds coming through with six and Zari Brice four. The Lady Indians won the battle on the glass, 21-19, with Brice grabbing eight and Rae Evans six. Gannon pulled down seven boards for Coffee County. Dobyns-Bennett finishes the season at 24-9 and loses eight seniors, including the injured Hannah Frye, who was undergoing successful ACL-surgery back in Knoxville during the game. “I want to give her a shoutout,” said Francis. “From January on when she got hurt, there was nothing I thought this group couldn’t attack head on. This group just loves each other so much, they really came together.” Along with Frye, it was the farewell for Payton Moore, Kaylee Crumbley, Reagan Hollowell, Brice, Evans, Black and Hill. “We’ve played together since the sixth grade,” said Hill. “It’s really hard…really hard…” Hill said her final season was special. “When we won the district tournament championship, I turned to everybody and said, ‘We can go. We can make it to state,’ continued Hill. “And we did. I just wish we had five more minutes.” The state tournament appearance for Dobyns-Bennett was its first since 1995. The Lady Indians also won regular season and district tournament titles in the same year for the first time in school history. It’s undisputed league crown was also a first. “That’s pretty special, even more special with this group,” said Francis. “They’ve left a great legacy.” COFFEE COUNTY (48)– Audri Patton 0-3 0-0 0, Jules Ferrel 0-2 6-6 6, Olivia Vinson 2-7 2-2 7, Natalie Barnes 6-9 5-5 18, Channah Gannon 2-5 8-10 12, Ella Arnold 2-2 0-0 5, Totals 12-28 21-23 48. DOBYNS-BENNETT (39) – Caroline Hill 4-12 1-1 11, Zari Brice 2-3 0-2 4, Rae Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Moore 1-3 0-0 2, Kaydence Black 4-9 0-0 11, Carlee Cradic 0-0 0-0 0, Reagan Hollowell 0-1 0-0 0, Jadeah Releford 1-1 0-0 2, Kaylee Crumbley 1-3 0-0 3, Sally McReynolds 2-5 1-2 6, Totals 15-38 2-5 39. 1234FINALCoffee County221061048Dobyns-Bennett91111839 Three-Pointers - Coffee County 3-10 (Patton 0-3, Vinson 1-3, Barnes 1-3, Arnold 1-1), Dobyns-Bennett 7-19 (Hill 2-7, Moore 0-1, Black 3-6, Hollowell 0-1, Crumbley 1-1, McReynolds 1-2). Rebounds - Coffee County 19 (Gannon 7, Ferrell 4), Dobyns-Bennett 21 (Brice 8, Evans 6, Hill 3). Assists - Coffee County 8 (Ferrell 3, Vinson 3, Gannon 2), Dobyns-Bennett 11 (Black 4, Brice 2). Steals - Coffee County 5 (Vinson 2, Barnes 2), Dobyns-Bennett 2 (Moore 2). Blocks - Coffee County 3 (Gannon 3), Dobyns-Bennett 1 (McReynolds). Turnovers - Coffee County 7, Dobyns-Bennett 10. Total Fouls - Coffee County 7, Dobyns-Bennett 18. Fouled Out - none. Technical Fouls - none.
Since last summer, it’s been Murfreesboro or bust for Dobyns-Bennett’s Lady Indians.And the ‘Boro it is after Saturday night’s 54-47 Class 4A Sectional triumph at Farragut.“I’m just super excited,” said senior guard Caroline Hill. “We’ve dreamed of this since the summertime and we’ve made our dreams come true.”Coach Bill Francis admitted his skepticism when the Lady Indians voiced their ambitious goal.“I chucked and thought, I’ve heard that before,” said Francis. “But this team is different. In today’s society everybody wants the limelight, everybody wants the accolades. Nobody wants to accept roles, but this is a team that’s accepted that and worked hard at that and we’ve worked hard to sell that. So, this is a just reward for them.”Perhaps no Lady Indian has been more accepting in that regard than Reagan ‘Reggie’ Hollowell. Struggling with her shot in the postseason, Francis stuck with the senior’s limited spot in the rotation.Hollowell knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the Region 1-4A championship game on Wednesday night and drilled two early in the second period against Farragut as the Lady Indians jumped out to a 19-5 advantage.“Reagan Hollowell!. O my gosh,” said Francis. “A kid that plays four to five minutes a night. She comes in and knocks down two huge three’s. I hugged her in practice the other day and told her how proud I was of her.”Hollowell easily could have sought playing time elsewhere, but said that simply wasn’t an option.“Just this team, just being around them. It’s like a family,” said Hollowell. “I wasn’t leaving that. And I’m really going to miss it, but I’m really excited about what’s to come.”Hollowell’s minutes often come to spell the relentless Hill.“Reggie, I’m so proud of her,” said Hill. “She puts in a lot of work behind the scenes and tonight was her night. I’m glad she got that.”Hill and Payton Moore accounted for all 11 of Dobyns-Bennett’s first quarter points. The scoring spread in the second period as the Lady Indians enjoyed a 26-14 lead at the break. Going to fourth, the Lady Admirals had scored just 20 points and trailed by 13 as star guards Jaci Neubert and Annie Priest had been limited to a single field goal and just four combined points, all from Priest.“I thought we really had good match-ups tonight,” explained Francis. “We are as good a defensive team as I’ve ever coached and we just guarded them. They couldn’t get anything going.”The Lady Indian defensive game to not extend its stingy man defense much outside the three-point arc worked to perfection.“They couldn’t get that running start,” continued Francis. “We knew they were pretty good getting that running start. We also felt like they lived with three’s and offensive rebounds. We thought we could really wall them up and guard the three. And our kids did a great job of getting over screens and hedging on screens.”Evans was tasked with guarding Priest, granddaughter of former Tennessee All-American defensive back and former Vol Network color analyst, Tim Priest.“She’s tough,” Evans said of Priest. “We knew that 1 (Neubert) was their best shooter and she was the one person we didn’t want to help off. We knew 4 (Priest) and 22 (K.J. McNealy) were good drivers so we made sure and helped a little bit.”Kaydence Black drew the assignment on McNealy, a silky-smooth 6-0 sophomore with extended range, flashy ball-handling skills and ability to finish with either hand in the paint.“My job was to make sure 22 didn’t drive to the goal and didn’t get rebounds,” said Black.McNealy, the Region 2-4A Tournament MVP, had just eight points through three quarters, but came alive in the fourth along with the rest of the Lady Admirals.“We knew they weren’t going away,” Francis said. “Farragut is a really good, well-coached team.”Leading 40-23 after a Black lay-in, Farragut sliced the Lady Indian lead to five at 42-37 with relentless full-court defensive pressure.Hill helped keep the Lady Indians on top, scoring nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter.“They really put the pressure on us in the fourth quarter,” said Hill. “When we started running our trap offense I knew it had to get to the goal or get fouled.”A McNealy 22-footer capped an unbelievable fourth quarter that saw her score 14 of her game-high 22 points. The three had Farragut within four at 49-45 with 28.9 seconds to play.But Dobyns-Bennett made 5-of-6 free throws to secure the victory with freshman Sally McReynolds knocking down the first two with 28.5 seconds to play. Evans made 1-of-2 a short time later.“Their pressure definitely shook us up a little bit,” said Evans. “But we figured out how to get through it and then they had no other option but to foul us. Those free throws saved us.”Hill capped the victory with two more with seven seconds left and the celebration was on.“There late we lost our mind a little bit and that happens because there's so much on the line,” noted Francis. “They’ve poured everything into it and they feel it slipping away. If we don’t have all these seniors out there it probably does.”McNealy finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and four steals for Farragut (21-13). Neubert collected all nine of her points in the fourth period while Priest chipped in with eight.For the game, Farragut made only 14-of-55 field goal attempts (25.5%) and just 3-of-20 (15%) from long range.“When it’s not going in like that, you don’t have a lot of words for it,” said Farragut coach Jason Mayfield. “Tonight just really wasn’t our night for our shots to fall.“I credit Dobyns-Bennett. They made some tough ones and that was our worry going in. They’re a disciplined, fundamentally sound team and if you make a mistake, they make you pay for it. If we made a mistake, they made a shot.”The Lady Indians made 50% of their shots (16-of-32), from both inside the arc (10-of-20) and outside the arc (6-of-12).Hill’s 19 points included two field goals from long range, unofficially giving her 78 three-pointers on the season, one more than the single-season record she set last year.“What a night to do it,” said Francis. “Good for her.” Moore came through with nine points and Black finished with eight, six coming in the final period.“I was very nervous going into the fourth quarter,” said Black. “We knew they were coming. We’ve been talking about this for so long and I’m relieved and happy and so excited.”The Lady Indians also won the battle of the glass, 30-26, with Rae Evans collecting a team-high ten boards. Zari Brice ripped down five and Hill came up with four.Dobyns-Bennett also assisted on 11 of its 16 made shots with Evans dishing out four helps and Moore and Black three apiece.Among the post-game celebrators was Knox Catholic senior Sydney Mains, who was just back from Murfreesboro after leading the Lady Irish to a second straight Division II-AA state title“We’ve been friends a long time and it means a lot that after Sydney wins a state championship she comes all the way back to watch us play,” said Hill.Dobyns-Bennett will open the state tournament against Coffee County (32-3), a 63-30 winner over Hendersonville, next Wednesday at 1:45 at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.The rest of the field includes defending champion Bradley Central (31-1), Cleveland (23-9), Lincoln County (25-9), Clarksville (31-0) and Bartlett (28-10).“I’m just excited to go down there with my best friends,” Hill added. “We’ve put in so much hard work. Whatever happens, happens and we are going to have fun regardless.”DOBYNS-BENNETT (54) – Caroline Hill 5 7-7 19, Zari Brice 1 0-0 2, Rae Evans 0 5-10 5, Payton Moore 3 1-2 9, Kaydence Black 4 0-0 8, Carlee Cradic 0 0-0 0, Reagan Hollowell 2 0-0 6, Kaylee Crumbley 1 0-0 2, Sally McReynolds 0 3-5 4, Totals 16 16-24 54.FARRAGUT (47) – Jaci Neubert 1 7-8 9, Annie Priest 2 3-6 8, Mya Johnston 0 4-4 4, K.J. McNealy 9 2-2 22, Carly Vining 0 0-0 0, Hannah Enderson 1 0-0 2, Trinity Curry 1 0-1 2, Lilly Mullins 0 0-0 0, Totals 14 16-21 47. 1 2 3 4 FINAL Dobyns-Bennett 11 15 7 21 54 Farragut 5 9 6 27 47 Three-Pointers - Dobyns-Bennett 6 (Hill 2, Hollowell 2, Moore 2), Farragut 3 (McNealy 2, Priest). Rebounds - Dobyns-Bennett 30 (Evans 10, Brice 5, Hill 4), Farragut 26 (McNealy 13, Vining 4). Assists - Dobyns-Bennett 11 (Evans 4, Moore 3, Black 3), Farragut 5 (5 with 1). Steals - Dobyns-Bennett 1 (Evans), Farragut 10 (McNealy 4, Priest 2). Blocks - Dobyns-Bennett 1 (Brice), Farragut 3 (McNealy, Vining, Curry). Turnovers - Dobyns-Bennett 11, Farragut 4.
PHOTO GALLERY: Dobyns-Bennett vs Farragut, Class AAAA Sectional (56)
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Lady Indian Wave Breaks in Region Title Loss to Sevier County
Every wave eventually breaks and the nug ridden recently by Dobyns-Bennett’s Lady Indians peeled in Sevier County’s 41-27 victory in the Region 1-AAAA championship game Wednesday evening. The Bearettes (30-3) won for the 30th time on the season while snapping Dobyns-Bennett’s ten game winning streak. No team in Class 4A has defeated the Bearettes yet this season. “Sevier County is 30-3 for a reason, extremely well-coached, three 1,000-point scorers,” said Dobyns-Bennett coach Bill Francis. The Lady Indians (23-8) had won every game since the loss of Hannah Frye, but the steady senior’s offensive skill set was sorely missed against the extended 2-3 zone employed by the Bearettes. “We hadn’t faced much true adversity recently,” noted Francis. “We’ve been riding a real high wave, but you know the waves always eventually hit the shore.” The Lady Indians were held scoreless for the first 6:15 of the first half and the first 4:23 of the second. Dobyns-Bennett’s first field goal came with 45 seconds left in the opening period. Its first bucket of the second half came with 2:10 remaining in the third stanza. “That’s what Sevier County does to you,” Francis said. “We don’t see that defensive style very often. We’ve played them twice in my ten years and there’s a reason they are good at what they do.” The game was eerily similar to the last meeting between the two, a region quarterfinal contest four years ago won by the Bearettes by nearly the identical score, 42-27. The Dobyns-Bennett offensive output was its lowest since a 38-25 setback to Elizabethton on December 31, 2020. “You think you’ve got a chance every night when you only give up 41, but you aren’t beating anybody scoring 27 points,” continued Francis. The Lady Indians committed 18 turnovers in the game which unofficially led to 15 Sevier County points and shot just 9-for-32 in the game, including 4-of-19 inside the arc. “We just didn’t see the next pass,” explained Francis. “They collapsed their zone when we got the ball to the middle. We had our shooters where they needed to be and we just couldn’t get it to them. “We also just didn’t have good vision. We didn’t move with the ball to stay in vision. That’s where some of our turnovers came, ball handlers assuming a teammate was going to be there.” Kaydence Black’s three-pointer broke the first quarter ice and gave the Lady Indians a 5-4 lead going to the second. A Hill three-ball had Dobyns-Bennett within 14-12, but Sevier County scored the final four points of the first half and first eight of the second to open a 26-12 cushion. The Lady Indians never got closer than 12 the rest of the way. Cybil Pendland of Sevier County was the game’s only double digit scorer with ten points while also collecting five rebounds, dishing out three assists, picking up two steals and blocking one shot. Tournament Most Valuable Player Kinley Loveday scored nine with Carsyn Loveday and Abree Laney scoring eight apiece. Laney also grabbed six boards. Kaliyah Burden recorded six points, four rebounds, four assists and two blocks for the winners. Payton Moore led the Lady Indians with seven points and added five rebounds and two steals. Reagan Hollowell hit two three-pointers for her six points. “That was big for her,” said Francis. “Her first one kept us in it there in the second quarter. Reagan doesn’t get a lot of playing time, but she’s stuck with it and accepted her role, so it was good to see her get rewarded.” Hill was limited to just six points on only six shot attempts, first by picking up her second foul midway through the first period on an unfathomable charging whistle, then by the stingy Bearette defense. Still, the Carson-Newman signee and all-tournament selection moved into sixth place on the Lady Indians all-time scoring list with 1,327 points passing Josh Mills (1,323 in two seasons) and Beth Godsey (1,325). Zari Brice led all rebounders with seven on the night with Rae Evans collecting five to go with three assists. Sevier County will host Region 2 runner-up Bearden, which lost 56-49 at home to Farragut, in the sectional round Saturday while Dobyns-Bennett will travel to take on the Lady Admirals, a team the Lady Indians defeated 51-46 back in December. Farragut started the season 7-12 through December, but is 14-2, with both losses coming to Bearden, since the flip of the calendar. All sectional games tip at 7:00 p.m. local time. The winners advance to next week’s TSSAA State Tournament in Murfreesboro. “We’ve been riding a big ol’ wave,” said Francis. “Let’s see if we can catch the next one.” DOBYNS-BENNETT (27) – Caroline Hill 2-6 1-2 6, Zari Brice 0-3 0-0 0, Rae Evans 1-6 0-0 2, Payton Moore 3-8 0-1 7, Kaydence Black 1-3 0-0 3, Carlee Cradic 0-0 0-0 0, Reagan Hollowell 2-3 0-0 6, Jadeah Releford 0-0 1-2 1, Kaylee Crumbley 0-1 0-0 0, Sally McReynolds 0-1 2-2, Totals 9-32 4-7 27. SEVIER COUNTY (41) – Kaliyah Burden 3-8 0-2 6, Cybil Pendland 5-10 0-0 10, Carsyn Loveday 3-5 1-2 8, Kinley Loveday 3-4 3-5 9, Aubree Laney 2-5 4-4 8, Mandy Saunders 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 16-35 8-13 41. 1234FINALDobyns-Bennett578727Sevier County41417641 Three-Pointers - Dobyns-Bennett 5-13 (Hill 1-4, Hollowell 2-3, Evans 0-1, Moore 1-2, Black 1-2, McReynolds 0-1), Sevier County 1-6 (Burden 0-1, Penland 0-1, C. Loveday 1-3, Laney 0-1). Rebounds - Dobyns-Bennett 22 (Brice 7, Evans 5, Moore 5, Crumbley 3), Sevier County 21 (Laney 6, Penland 5, Burden 4). Assists - Dobyns-Bennett 7 (Evans 3, Crumbley 2), Sevier County 11 (Burden 4, Penland 3, C. Loveday 2, K. Loveday 2). Steals - Dobyns-Bennett 5 (Moore 2, Black 2), Sevier County 3 (Penland 2). Blocks - Dobyns-Bennett 0, Sevier County 4 (Burden 2). Turnovers - Dobyns-Bennett 18, Sevier County 6.
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