Central girls fall to No. 1 Riverdale in state semifinals

from Commercial Appeal

Central coach Niki Bray acknowledged that her Lady Warriors probably had to play as close to perfect as possible to win their TSSAA Class AAA girls state basketball semifinal against Murfreesboro Riverdale on Friday.

And when that didn’t happen, the Lady Warriors became just another in a long line of Riverdale conquests.

Middle Tennessee State signee Tyisha Petty scored 23 points as Riverdale, the top team in the country according to ESPN and MaxPreps, defeated Central, 85-64. Riverdale (34-0) won its 57th straight game and will play for its second state title in a row Saturday against Johnson City Science Hill, which eliminated Overton 65-32 in the other semifinal.

“We’ve got much respect for that team,” said Bray, whose team has played — and beaten — Riverdale several times in recent seasons.

“They have so many weapons and we knew we’d have to play a near-perfect game.”
What undid Central (26-6) was defense; Riverdale made four 3-pointers in a decisive second quarter that saw them take a 48-32 halftime lead after leading just 20-16 after the first quarter. Petty made two in the run and Olivia Jones (22 points, nine rebounds) and Alexa Middleton (13 points) also connected from deep.

“We didn’t get out on their shooters,” said Bray. “We were watching the ball, we weren’t denying the cutters and our energy level was down.”

Said Tia Wooten, who had 14 points for Central, “We worked so hard all year and it’s frustrating not to do the things we worked on.”

Central couldn’t get any closer than 14 points during the second half. Riverdale has five 1,000-point scorers in its starting lineup and every time it looked as though Central might begin to claw back into the game, Riverdale had an answer.

“We just had so much energy,” said Riverdale coach Cory Barrett. “Everybody from the players, to the coaches, to the trainers and the managers.”

Said Bray, “I don’t think their pressure hurt us. We were prepared for that ... it was just us.”
In her final game for the Lady Warriors, Nina Davis carried the load once again. The Baylor signee scored 31 points on 13 of 24 shooting, while staking her claim to win AAA Miss Basketball. The award will be presented at the conclusion of Saturday’s championship game.

“Any time you lose it hurts,” she said. “I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Davis is a finalist along with Jones and Middleton and Bray has no doubt about who should win.
“Nina’s the best player ever at Central and I think one of the top five all-time in Shelby County,” she said. “You talk about Nikki McCray and Ashley Shields ... she’s right up there.”