Central, Overton girls vie for Class AAA title

Update

Central defeats Clarksville 55-50

Danielle Ballard with 20 points 16 rebounds and Nina Davis 14 points 8 rebounds

Overton defeats Oak Ridge 47-42 in first round of play.

Jasmine Robinson with 18 points and Cortrice Golden with 10 points.

Jasmine Robinson's 18 points led Overton to a 47-42 win over Oak Ridge in today's Class AAA state girls quarterfinal game at the Murphy Center on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.

Overton trailed 15-8 near the end of the first quarter, but Marshall signee Orlandria Williams hit a 3-pointer as the quarter expired to cut Oak Ridge's lead to 15-11. The Lady Wolverines then scored the first eight points of the quarter to take a 19-15 lead. Oak Ridge answered with four points to tie the game at 19, before Overton scored the final seven points of the quarter to grab a 26-19 halftime lead.

Overton led the entire second half, but Oak Ridge did close within one point at 43-42, with 1:09 left in the game. But, Williams hit a jumped shot with 53 seconds left and Jackeya Mitchell added two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to send the Lady Wolverines into Friday's semifinal round against Murfreesboro Riverdale.

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A year ago, a Central team with three Division 1 signees and two talented freshmen came within a last-second shot by Nashville Hillsboro of winning its first girls state title since 1922.

This year, the safety net that Erica Burgess, Jasmine Taylor and provided is gone, and the Warriors' fate is firmly on the shoulders of sophomores Danielle Ballard and Aaliyah Whiteside and freshman point guard Jamila AjanakuNina Davis.

Meanwhile, Overton is led once again by a marquee player -- Alabama-bound senior Jasmine Robinson -- and most of the same supporting cast from a team that lost to Hillsboro by 10 in the semifinals last season.

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