Lady Owls make second 2A state tournament appearance in three seasons, snare sectional road win at Nashville’s Pearl Cohn
2A SECTIONAL GIRLS
Lady Owls 56, Pearl Cohn 48
By Terry Collins Courier Sports
NASHVILLE — The Smith County High Lady Owls basketball team traveled to Nashville to face off against Pearl Cohn last Saturday night in Class 2A Substate / Sectional action.
The two teams had met earlier this season in Antioch at Ezell-Harding High with the Lady Firebirds posting a 62-40 victory on November 29.
The winner would advance to the Class 2A state tournament and be only one of eight teams left fighting for a gold ball.
The Lady Owls got off to a great start and trailed only three times in the game before grabbing a 56-48 victory to make the state tournament for only the third time in school history — 1973 and 2024 were the only other two teams to achieve that goal.
Coach Matt Ferrell, in his fourth year, has now been to three Substate / Sectional games and two state tourney appearances.
“One of the things that we really preached this year was that our schedule was going to make the difference,” said Ferrell. “We preached it all year and tried to get the girls to understand why we set the schedule up like we did. We have the toughest schedule in class 2A and it’s paid off so far down the stretch because no one has shown us anything we have not already seen.”
Ferrell reflected on the last four years for the Lady Owls program.
“The last four years have been really special here,” said Ferrell. “I attribute every bit of the success we have had to the groups of kids we have had. They bought in to what we were selling early on and have really owned raising the standard and passing it on better than you found it. I could not be more proud of them for their effort and how bought in they are to what we’re doing and I’m excited to see how the rest of the year plays out.
The Lady Owls have only one senior on the squad which is Kellie King as there are five juniors on the 12 member squad.
“Returning to the state tournament, for the second time in three years feels truly incredible,” said Ferrell. “It’s rewarding to see all our hard work pay off, and we are genuinely excited to represent our school with Owl Pride. Everyone’s eager to give their best and make the most of this special opportunity. It’s all too easy to let moments like these slip by, so I’m extremely proud of these Lady Owls!”
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