I was really excited about the 2007-2008 basketball season after experiencing some great hoops the prior year as both the Forrest Lady Rockets and Marshall County Tigerettes advanced to the state tournament with Lewisburg finishing as runner-ups.

The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs had compiled a solid team with high hopes and were ready to make a run for district supremacy.

Covering basketball by myself was tough, I was on the move every night and a lot of weekends and by the time Christmas came, I was exhausted and really needed some help.

What I got was the best help I ever had as Louis Scheuchenzuber came aboard in January and that changed everything as the Tribune now had at least two people to cover the three schools.

It wasn’t perfect but we made it work, breaking it down geographically because Louis lived south of the river and I was on the north side on Verona Caney Road.

Louis had attended all three county schools in his prep days and was familiar with many people and had outstanding knowledge of the county’s rich sports history, he was full of energy, and Louis was a very good writer as well.

We would go on to have many great years working together.

Tigerettes return to gory

The Tigerettes were three-time state champions (1972, 1976, 1980) and the only time they finished second was in 2006-2007 with the loss to Austin East in the Class 2A title game, leaving them more hungrier than ever.

These girls were very good and they had a well-rounded squad that was battled tested and well-coached by David Steely and Boyd West.

Lauren March, Jakerra Simmons, and Jessica McQueen had been selected to the all-state tournament team the year before and were poised once again for big seasons.

They had the deepest backcourt in the state with McQueen, McKenna Moffett, Danica Hopkins, NeNe McClean, Addricka O’Neal, and Cornersville transfer Lauren Reeves.

The Tigerettes also had very capable backups in the low post with Andraya Tears, Mieke Wallace and Stephanie Moore, plus some awesome young talent on the bench.

The Tigerettes won their first two games of the season by a combined score of 142-52, including a school record 69-point win over Culleoka.

On Saturday, November 24 the Tigerettes had their first test of the year when they took on Obion County in the Columbia Rotary Classic in a game I remember very well because it was a lesson they would not forget, especially March who got beat up in the low post, most notably a cheap shot flagrant foul when she was in open court, driving to the basket late in the game.

That would not happen again and from that point on the Tigerettes wanted a payback with Obion County, but that could not happen unless they met in the state tournament.

They took it out on their next 11 opponents by an average score of 53.5 to 27 with the only 10-point game coming against Giles County on Friday, December 7.

The Tigerettes had a momentary setback, losing 47-43 to host Smyrna in the Bulldog Christmas Classic.

Smyrna was another good test as they went on to the Class 3A state tournament, losing to Cleveland in the second round.

Marshall County won five straight, including four consecutive District 10-AA contests before blowing a 16-point lead in their only home loss of the season versus Lewis County.

They lost their second game in a row two days later to a very talented Lawrenceburg squad and that was the last time they tasted defeat the rest of the season.

I think that loss made them really mad because they destroyed their next four opponents to wind up the regular season and clinch the district title.

They marched through the District 10-AA Tournament at Spring Hill, blowing out all three opponents and winning the title with a 48-28 win over Hickman County.

The Region 5-AA Tournament was much of the same with wins over CPA (56-36), East Nashville (58-30), and once again Hickman County (49-29) in the championship game.

Bolivar Central travelled to Dottie Kelso Memorial Gymnasium for a sub-state game on March 1 with a 20-10 record and their season ended with a 19-point loss, sending the Tigerettes back to the “Glass House”.

"Back-to-back is what we've been preaching all year,” Steely said after the game. “You can't win the state tournament unless you make the state tournament.

"We're going to be fired up and we're going to be ready. These girls are going up there to win."

They were serious all right and laser-focused as they opened up with a huge 74-45 win over a Gibson County squad that came in with a 27-5 record.

March scored a game-high 22 points, Moffett had 13, and Hopkins was also in double figures with 12 points.

They faced another state powerhouse in the second round, taking on the McMinn Central Lady Chargers, who came in to the semifinal contest with a 32-2 record and riding a 21-game winning streak.

It was a battle for the ages, but the Tigerettes were steady and strong, winning a close 45-43 game that went down to the wire.

McMinn Central led 41-39 with 1:41 remaining in the contest when “The Assassin” (McQueen) drilled a 3-pointer.

Hopkins, McQueen, and March hit one free throw apiece down the stretch and the game ended when the “The Glove” (Hopkins) stole the rock on an inbounds pass under the basket, sending the Tigerettes to their first title game since 1980.

March was dominating in the low post once again, scoring 23 out of the 45 points in the contest versus McMinn.

The Tigerettes took on Milan in the title game as the Lady Bulldogs came in with a 29-5 record.

It was a great game as the Tigerettes led 7-6 after the first period and kept the one-point lead at the half at 19-18.

Milan knotted the game at 30 after three quarters, but the Tigerettes' experience paid off in the fourth period as they outscored the Lady Bulldogs 14-5 in the decisive last eight minutes.

The Tigerettes began to pull away at the beginning of the fourth period on a Hopkins jumper to make it 32-30 and Simmons scored to make it 34-30.

Milan got the two back to cut the lead back to two points at 34-32 and then the Tigerettes dug deep and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 5-0 over the next 4:22 to build the lead to seven at 39-32.

Marshall County iced the game from the free throw line as March went 4-for-4 and Moffett 1-for-2 in the last minute to capture their fourth Gold Ball.

March finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, went 4-for-5 from the free throw line, and played all 32 minutes.

Simmons was the difference maker for the Tigerettes, matching March's 13 points on 6-for-9 from the field and making several huge baskets at crucial moments in the game.

"Finding a way to win it was huge, picture on the wall, banner in the gym, it will be there forever now," Steely said.

March (MVP), Simmons, McQueen, and Hopkins were all voted to the All-Tournament team for the Tigerettes who finished the season with a 32-4 record.

In early May, Steely resigned his post, citing personal reasons and West took over.

The following season, West guided the Tigerettes to 30 straight wins, but a 49-48 upset loss to Hume-Fogg ended Marshall County’s hopes of a repeat.

Eleven games into the 2009-2010 season, West resigned and the Tigerettes suffered through seven losing seasons before Steely came back in 2016, eventually making it back to the state tournament in the 2018-2019 season.

Lady Rockets have great season, lose state championship winning coach

The Lady Rockets were a full season removed from winning the school’s only state championship in any sport and Robby Reasonover’s squad was determined to get back to the state tournament and prove themselves once again.

Reigning state tournament MVP Gaby Bussell led the Lady Rockets with junior Summer Waggoner adding another force underneath.

Helping in the low post was future Miss Basketball Beth Hawn, along with seniors Alyssa Gugger and Kensie McKee.

The Lady Rockets had a guard rotation that other teams dreamt of in Dakota Wesson, Ayla Young, Blair Foster, Bequi Bussell, Shelby Stinnett, Amanda Daughrity, Megan Porter, and newcomer from Shelbyville, Alex Martin.

Talk about deep, the other players were Taylour Allen and Haley Mathis, plus they had a stout JV squad in Allen, Hawn, Stinnett, Lorrie Logue, Canaan Raines, Randi Tombs, and freshmen Jillian Blanchett, Anna and Christina Curtner, Maegen Gower, Megan Miller, Alyson Patton, and Kimberly Rochester.

They opened up the 2007-2008 campaign hosting a hungry Clarkrange team that had not won a state title since the 2003-2004 season and for the second year in a year, the Lady Buffaloes prevailed 45-29.

Chapel Hill put together a four-game winning streak and then lost to a stout Richland squad in the Forrest Thanksgiving Tournament before reeling off six straight wins.

They travelled to Waynesboro for the Rotary Christmas Tournament on back-to-back long bus trips and beat Collinwood before losing to Wayne County to put their record at 10-3.

The Lady Rockets used that measuring stick well as they went on a 13-game winning streak and only one those contests was close, a 50-46 win over a much improved MTCS squad.

The Lady Rockets rolled in to the postseason where they beat MTCS in both the district and region tournament title games.

Forrest hosted a tough Santa Fe squad in a sub-state game and had to come from six points behind at the start of the fourth quarter.

A 20-6 stanza proved more than enough in a 10-point win over the Lady Wildcats to send the Lady Rockets to their third consecutive state tournament appearance.

Forrest lost to eventual state champion Gleason in the first round in defense of their title the year before and got a really bad draw again, taking on a stout Wayne County team that had beaten the Lady Rockets 48-44 in the Waynesboro Christmas Classic.

After a close first half, Wayne County pulled away to a 15-point lead with just five minutes left in the game before Forrest dug down deep with a huge 12-2 run, capped off by an electrifying steal, score and made free throw by Bussell to slice the deficit to just three points.

The Lady Wildcats held firm with a perfect 8-for-8 effort from the free throw line down the stretch to knock out the Lady Rockets.

Not only did they lose the game, they lost their coach as Reasonover also resigned.

The Chapel Hill hardwood heroines senior class of 2007-2008 compiled a four-year record of 106-29, dominating District 9-A, devastating Region 5-A, and magically winning the 2005-2006 state championship.

Foster, Bussell, Young, Wesson, McKee, and Gugger graduated, but Forrest had a young and talented nucleus that returned to the state tournament the following season under new coach Jeremy Jean.

Foundation set in Cornersville

The Cornersville Lady Bulldogs had a very good 2006-2007 season after many players graduated from the 2005-2006 squad that won both the regular season and District 11-A Tournament titles and posted a 16-7 record.

The 2006-2007 season was a transitional year as the Lady Bulldogs started out 4-8 before putting together a nice second half, posting a 10-7 record and a first round District 11-A Tournament win over Columbia Academy.

Three consecutive postseason losses ended their year, but they were on the way to bigger things.

In 2007-2008, Micha Landers’ squad lost two out of their first three games before finding their footing with a 7-5 record at the Christmas break and they had a solid second half, compiling a 10-7 mark to finish with an impressive 17-12 overall mark on the season.

The starters for Cornersville were senior guards Sara Barnett and Brittney Dickens, joined by sophomore Sara Nelms.

Junior Sarah King and Tori Wolaver manned the low post, while a talented group of backups were hungry for some action.

The deep lineup included Kristin Fagan, Abbey Holder, Morgan Carroll, Kaitlyn Hunter, Lindsey Dalton, Shelby Brock, and Haley Fagan.

Rounding out the squad for the Lady Dawgs were Jessica King, Courtney Cook, Alex Wolaver, Nina Endsley, Martha Brown, and Brittny Wheeler.

After two straight losses after the Christmas break, the Lady Bulldogs made their move, winning seven-of-nine with wins versus Moore County, at Huntland, a home and away sweep over Culleoka, at Community, at Columbia Academy, and a close 72-67 win over non-conference Eagleville.

The Raiderettes halted Cornersville’s winning ways when they returned the favor via a 62-47 win at Moore County in early February.

The Lady Bulldogs blasted Hampshire in the final regular season contest, leaving Cornersville and Moore County tied in the district standings with identical 7-5 district records, forcing a coin toss to determine seeding in the district tournament and Cornersville lost the flip, making them the fourth-seed.

They got off to a nice start in the first round of the District 11-A Tournament, easily beating Columbia Academy 61-44 for their third win of the season over CA.

King led the way, scoring a game-high 17 points to set up a third meeting with fourth-ranked Richland and Miss Basketball candidate Rachel Glidden.

The Lady Bulldogs lost by 17 points to Richland, but came back with a huge 68-62 win over Moore County in the district tournament consolation game at Culleoka.

Cornersville had to make the long trek to Waynesboro to take on a 26-5 Lady Wildcats’ squad in the first round of the Region 5-A Tournament and the Lady Bulldogs hung tough early on and played the Lady Wildcats to a 22-22 tie in the first half.

Wayne County outscored the Lady Bulldogs 43-25 over the final two quarters to claim the 18-point victory to move on and end Cornersville’s season.

Following the game, Landers praised seniors Dickens, Barnett, Wolaver, King, and Hunter for their leadership and the dedication to the program.

"Their leadership has been as solid as any group I've ever had," said Landers, who had just finished his eighth year at the helm. "They did a great job of leading by example and they always came in and worked hard."

The hard work paid off the following season with a state tournament appearance.

This is where I have to leave off this week due to space constrictions in the paper, but next week we will finish up the boys 2007-2008 basketball that had more than a few twists and turns along the way. Stay safe out there!

Help me out

If you have any questions, comments, or old photos you would like to share please contact me at apuca@marshalltribune.com and I will be happy to share with everyone else.

I want to thank Scotty Brock and George “Pap” Warren for their generosity in teaching me a lot about photography and sharing their photos over that first season and up to this day.

Bill Beasley in Chapel Hill has done the same, as has Danny Parker and Jimmy Jones from the Shelbyville Times Gazette, and a special thank you to Jim Bryan for his expertise and teaching that was essential.

I want to thank all the fans, parents, athletes, coaches, school administrators, and work colleagues for helping me live this wonderful dream.