Mt. Juliet Wins Ladies' Classic

BY JOE BYRD
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Mt. Juliet won its second GreenBank Ladies' Classic championship on Thursday evening with a solid 72-45 victory over Cocke County that the Lady Bears controlled from the start.

The Lady Bears played solidly on both ends of the floor all week, and the title game was no exception. They passed the ball well looking forthe open shot, didn't make many mistakes in terms of turnovers and used a strong defense to notch their fourth win in four days and the tournament title.

Britt Bell led Mt. Juliet in the title game with 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Caya Williams scored 15, and Helen Mitchner added 12. Chelsea Brown scored six, had five assists and five rebounds.

Bell scored 15 of her total in the first two quarters, leading Mt. Juliet to a 38-20 halftime lead.

Cocke County (13-3) played with Mt. Juliet (13-1) after the break, but could never overcome the big early deficit.

Shannon Depew led Cocke County in scoring with 10 points, and Alley Sprouse scored eight.

Mt. Juliet shot 57.8 from the floor in the championship game, hitting 26-of-45. Of the 26 made baskets, 22 came with an assists. The Lady Bears only had 15 turnovers in the game, and they stole the ball 12 times.

The Lady Bears hit 11 3-pointers in the game, led by four from Mitchner.

Lady Bear coach Chris Fryer said the team prides itself in playing fundamental basketball.

"We take high percentage shots, and we are going to share the basketball," Fryer said. "Our girls stepped up this week. They made shots when people were doubling our big girl (Williams). Our outside people made shots, and (Williams) did her job inside. Defensively we did a good job. It was a complete victory for us."

Fryer, who also led Mt. Juliet to the 2004 Ladies' Classic championship, said the team couldn't be more pleased to add a second crown.

"It feels awesome, it's a good feeling," he said. "It's an awesome tournament, and we got put into a very tough bracket. Playing four games in a row, I thought our kids shot the ball well and did a good job. We are very grateful to the people of Greeneville allowing us to come up here and be a part of this great tournament. You just aren't going to find a better girls' basketball tournament anywhere in the country."

Mt. Juliet (72): Brown 2-3 0-0 6, Peterson 1-4 3-4 6, Britt Bell 9-16 2-3 22, Helen Mitchner 4-7 0-0 12, Caya Williams 6-7 3-3 15, Scott 1-10-0 3, Rhaney 1-1 0-0 2, Gurchiek 1-3 1-1 3, Hayes 1-1 0-0 3, Rau 0-00-0 0, Baugher 0-1 0-0 0, Choate 0-1 0-0 0, Melvin 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 26-45 9-11 72.

Cocke County (45): Buda 2-8 0-1 5, Lane 1-5 0-0 3, Walker 1-2 0-0 2,Shannon Depew 4-5 1-1 10, Sprouse 1-4 6-6 8, Ray 0-0 0-1 0, Ball 1-52-2 5, Ball 0-1 2-2 2, Gregg 1-1 0-0 2, Atha 1-1 0-0 2, Pruitt 2-3 0-04, Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Kohnke 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 15-40 11-13 45.

3-point goals: MJ - 11 (Brown 2, Peterson, Bell 2, Mitchner 4, Scott, Hayes). CC - 4 (Buda, Lane, Depew, Ball).

Score by quarters:
Mt. Juliet    25    13    15    19 -- 72
Cocke County    11    9    15    10 -- 45