Lady Longhorns' season ends in Regionals

Johnson County got the stops but couldn't get started in the second half of its Region 1-2A quarterfinal game at Pigeon Forge on Friday night. The Longhorns could muster only 17 points in the second half, including five in the third quarter, and sputtered to a 53-38 season-ending loss. "I believe we got 10 straight defensive stops (in the third quarter) and didn't score one time," Johnson County coach Mark McClain said. "I was tickled with the defense. We made some adjustments and went to a 1-3-1 zone. They had some trouble with it. And we had our chances but just couldn't score during that stretch." Senior 5-foot-7 guard Makaylee Stalcup scored a game-high 19 points for the Tigers. "I don't think we were overmatched," McClain said. "Now, they had probably the best player on the floor, Stalcup. She was a tough matchup for us. She's a pretty good player. We just didn't do a real good job stopping her from getting to the bucket." Sophomore Abby Dickens led the Longhorns (12-14) with 12 points – all from 3-point distance. "The last week or so of practice, Abby's just had a different mindset," McClain said. "And it showed in the game. I'm hoping it was the proverbial light bulb moment where something went off. She played well." Sophomore Audrey Shaw and senior Izzy Thompson scored nine and eight, respectively. Thompson is the lone senior on a team that finished second in the Three Rivers Conference. "Of course, you wanna go as far as you can go and keep advancing," McClain said, "but I'm hoping that was an introduction that kind of showed us where we're at and where we need to be going into next year." Johnson County began the week with a 73-68 win against Chuckey-Doak in the District 1-2A third-place game on Monday at West Ridge. Junior Mackenzie McClain scored 29 points and Shaw scored 24. Johnson County went ahead by 12 points with 2:04 left when McClain assisted Shaw's lay-up. But turnovers and iffy rebounding helped fuel the Black Knights' improbable rally. Chuckey-Doak (7-23) cut Johnson County's lead to three (71-68) with 44.8 seconds left when three consecutive offensive rebounds led to Chloe Kirkpatrick's 3-pointer. But McClain made a pair of free throws with 10.8 seconds left to clinch it. "I think they took 10 years off my life," Coach McClain said. "But I'm proud of 'em. They came out on top." The future would appear to be bright for the Longhorns. In fact, advancing to the sectional (Sweet 16) this season might've put the young team ahead of schedule. "I don't think we're behind schedule," McClain said. "It would've been nice to get in there and maybe get a taste of a substate (sectional). But we've done a lot of good things this year, improved upon last year and we've got most of our kids back next year. "We're gonna miss Izzy. She made some big buckets for us here and there." Shaw's ceiling could be even higher than that of the Longhorns. McClain is a seasoned quarterback that can facilitate and finish. "We're really excited about the ones we've got coming back with the experience they've got," Coach McClain said. "And we've got three or four kids on the varsity that didn't play much this year who I think, if they put in the work that I think they will, could be big contributors next year." McClain intends to schedule more stringent summer team camps in Middle Tennessee as opposed to the local camps he's scheduled in previous summers. "I think we've gotta put ourselves in some really tough situations," McClain said. "We've got six kids coming back that have as much varsity experience as probably anybody in our league. But just because they're coming back doesn't mean we're gonna get better. "They've gotta do their part. They've gotta stay in the gym and work their butts off to take that next step next year. I just don't want them to think that just because we're returning six people that have played a lot of time that we're just automatically gonna win ballgames." A story about the post-season awards will be in an upcoming edition of The Tomahawk.