MIDDLETON (March 1) In TSSAA girls’ high school regional basketball action, District 13-A champion and Region 7-A runner-up Clarksburg (20-6) battled closely with number-one ranked Middleton (31-1) throughout the first half before succumbing to a blistering 26-point third quarter attack and falling 71-50. Middleton ended Clarksburg’s great season.

Lady Tigers 71, Lady Rockets 50.

Utilizing aggressive low-post double and triple-team defense against Lady Tiger Jazzaine McKinnie combined with pinpoint shooting by Brooke Cary and Erin Grant, Clarksburg narrowly trailed top-ranked Middleton 14-11 at the end of the first period.

Continuing to battle aggressively, Clarksburg knotted the score at 22-all with 1:02 remaining in the second period and took the lead 24-22 on a Grant two-point basket at the 34 second mark.

Responding explosively, Middleton’s high-powered offense scored six points in the final 30 seconds of the second period to lead Clarksburg 30-24 at the half.

At the start of the second half, Middleton basketball coach James Buckley switched to a spread run-and-gun offense, breaking Clarksburg’s low-post defensive strategy against McKinnie, allowing her to score effectively in the paint. Middleton, sparked by the outside scoring of Jasmine Perry, Valnessa Miller and Sharon Morgan, quickly extended their lead over the Lady Rockets to 37-26 at the 6:19 mark of the third period.

Double teaming Grant defensively and ramping up offensively, Middleton rallied its hometown capacity crowd by outscoring Clarksburg 26-9 in the third period to lead 56-33 at the end of the third frame.

Despite sustaining an ankle injury in the second-period, Grant and her Lady Rocket teammates continued to battle Middleton gamely in the final period before falling 71-50.

Concluding their stellar season, Clarksburg was led offensively by game-high scorer Cary (28). Also contributing scoring for the Lady Rockets were Grant (14), KeAndrea Jamison (4), Whitney Walker (2) and Candace Gooch (2).

Middleton, bound for its first TSSAA State Tournament appearance in Murfreesboro since 1976, was led offensively by Perry (26), Miller (12), Morgan (12), McKinnie (6), Berry (6), Angela Geans (4), Christina Elliott (2) and Hope (2).

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