One of East Tennessee’s top Class A programs, the Coalfield Yellow Jackets, knocked off Tennessee High of Bristol 60-54 in the tournament opener Friday.
Led by sophomore Lily Wright, who led all scorers in the game with 21 points, Coalfield took the lead with a solid third quarter, withstood a fourth quarter comeback by the Vikings, and managed to stave off the Bristol squad down the stretch.
Coalfield trailed 24-21 at intermission, but outscored the Vikings 23-10 in the third quarter to bolt to a 44-34 advantage heading into the final stanza. Tennessee High caught up quickly in the fourth, knocking down four 3-pointers in the first four minutes and jumped back into a 49-47 lead.
But Coalfield recovered behind a 3-pointer from Lillyclaire Lowe and back-to-back buckets from Wright to move back in front 56-51 with 2:10 to go, and the Vikings could not answer this time.
Lowe finished with 12 points and seven rebounds while Mattie Beard scored 14 for the Jackets. Addie Wilhoit scored 19 and Addi Moore 15 for the Vikings.
Coalfield (60): Lily Wright 6-15 8-10 21, Lillyclaire Lowe 2-9 7-10 12, Nichols 1-3 1-2 4, Mattie Beard 4-11 2-2 6, Davis 3-4 2-2 9, McDaniel 0-10-0 0, Jackson 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 16-44 20-26 60.
Tennessee High (54): Addie Wilhoit 7-19 4-4 19, Addi Moore 6-8 1-2 15, Latham 2-8 3-4 9, Graingier 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 1-4 0-0 2, Warwick 1-2 0-0 3, Carmody 1-2 0-0 3, Linkous 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 19-46 8-10 54.
3-Point Goal: CHS—8 (Beard 4, Wright, Lowe, Nichols, Davis). TH—8 (Moore 2, Latham 2, Wilhoit, Warwick, Carmody, Linkous).
Score by quarters:
Coalfield 10 11 23 16–60
Tenn. High 12 12 10 20–54
