Overton struggles, loses to Johnson City Science Hill, 65-32

Just like good shooting can be contagious, so too can bad shooting. And everyone in a black Overton jersey had the bug Friday at the Murphy Center.

The Wolverines, playing in their fifth straight state tournament, struggled from the floor for four quarters and lost to Johnson City Science Hill, 65-32, in a AAA semifinal. Science Hill (35-3) will meet Murfreesboro Riverdale (34-0) in Saturday's 2 p.m. title game.

Overton, meanwhile, ends the season with a 32-7 record--and a sense that they could have played a lot better.

"Shooting, rebounding, the whole works," said Wolverines assistant Robert Woods. "We started off good but then the momentum broke. It hurts."

Overton led early 6-2 but Science Hill outscored the Wolverines 23-5 the rest of the half to take a 25-11 lead into the break. Overton connected on just 5 of 27 first-half field goal attempts, and the die was cast.

Keisha Gregory hit a pair of key 3-pointers late in the second quarter to help get Science Hill off and running.

"The young girl hit back-to-back 3s, that was big," said Woods.

Science Hill's lead only grew after the break as Overton continued to misfire from almost every spot on the floor. For the game, the Wolverines finished 12 of 56 (21.4 percent).

"Sometimes we were getting the shots we wanted," said Wolverines guard Philecia Atkins, who scored a team-high nine points but went 3 of 17 from the floor and 0 of 6 from 3-point range.
"I know for me personally, I took too many shots we didn't need or shouldn't have taken."
No one for Overton managed 50 percent shooting, with Georgetown signee Kelsey Briggs coming the closest (six points on 3 of 7 shooting).

Compounding the Wolverines problems was Science Hill's dominance on the glass. The Hilltoppers won the rebounding battle 55-30.

"We knew they had a lot of athletic players who could jump," said Science Hill's Gabby Lyons, who had 12 points and a game-high 13 boards. "We just wanted to concentrate on boxing out."
Middle Tennessee State signee Shy Copney also scored 12 and Tianna Tarter had 11 for the Hilltoppers, who will be trying to win their first state title in school history today.
For Overton, the ending was all-too-familiar.

"We only have two seniors and a lot of people didn't expect us to make it this far," said Woods. "At this level, you're going to run up against good teams and Science Hill is a good team."