BACK-TO-BACK GOLD; Lady Braves Hoops repeats as Division A state champions in rematch with Pine Haven
JAMES C. HAILE TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
Defeated 49, Pine Haven 45
By Shea Haile Courier Sports
MURFREESBORO — In a rematch of the 2025 title game, the Defeated Lady Braves and Pine Haven Lady Eagles squared off for the James C. Haile Division A girls championship. Defeated held off Pine Haven’s fourth quarter surge to claim back-to-back state titles with a 49-45 triumph last Saturday at Middle Tennessee Christian.
The Lady Braves took an 11 point lead after a Caylee West basket gave the squad a 44-33 cushion with 2:40 remaining. The Lady Eagles came within a possession at 48-45 after an Ellie Evans triple with 41 seconds remaining. Evans deep ball concluded a 12-4 Pine Haven run.
Defeated’s Emma Overstreet tossed in a clutch free throw with 20 ticks remaining on the game clock which helped secure the championship win.
“A lot of hard work and dedication paying off, they worked so hard and they earned this every day is what I told them,” said Defeated Lady Braves head coach Chris Nixon about his post game message to the back-to-back champs. “Every sprint they ran, all the conditioning drills, playing through sickness and twisted ankles — all the adversity they had — hard work, effort and teamwork gave them the result they wanted.”
“They set a goal and they wanted to do this. You saw tears and everything — they put so much time, effort, sweat, tears and everything into it and to have that achievement is a great thing. I told them to enjoy it and they earned it.”
The Lady Braves improved to 22-3 overall as the program hoisted the gold ball for the third time at the James C. Haile State Tournament.
“We went straight back to work,” said Nixon about the Lady Braves mindset after a championship run a year ago. “We had tryouts the first of May and we started basically three or four days a week throughout the summer with practice, hard work and dedication.”
“We knew what our goals were and the girls came to practice and worked everyday. Our practices are like games with game reps and game speed. The girls wanted it and they earned it with hard work.”
West tossed in a game high 25 points. Clarissa Comstock followed with seven points. Eva Dickerson posted six points while Charlee Powell tossed in five. Emma Overstreet added four points and Mileigh Silcox concluded the scoring with two.
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