The UHA Lady Blazers will have the chance Sunday afternoon, for the first time since 2015, to make the trip back to the All A State Tournament, as they take on Lyon County for the regional championship. The Lady Blazers advanced to the final by outlasting Caldwell County in overtim3 63-60.
The game was an intense, often times, physical battle between the two teams, in which the Lady Blazers survived two last second attempts by the Lady Tigers to win the game in regulation play.
The evening started off on the wrong foot for UHA, as Caldwell County came roaring out of the gate right from the opening tip. The Lady Tigers sprinted out to an 8-0 lead. UHA’s Anshanique Leavell then scored the next five points of the game and the battle was on. Caldwell County’s defense did enough for the rest of the first quarter to give the Lady Tigers a 10-7 lead at the end of the quarter.
The UHA offense, behind the play of Leavell and Alex Juckett, got rolling in the second quarter. The Lady Blazers outscored Caldwell County 20-9 in the quarter, and led 27-19 going into the locker room.
Caldwell County made a bit of a run in the 3rd quarter, cutting the lead to 33-29 late in the quarter. However, the Lady Blazers responded with a quick 4-0 run of their own to push the lead back out to 8 points. A late basket for Caldwell County cut the lead to 37-31 at the end of the quarter.
In the 4th quarter, Jacey Jaggers caught fire for the Lady Tigers behind the 3-point line, connecting on three long shots in the quarter, the last of which put Caldwell County up 46-43. Again, UHA responded and took a one point lead with 1:28 to go. The teams went back and forth down to the wire. A pair of free throws by Anshanique Leavell tied the game at 51 with 11.7 seconds left. Caldwell County got two shots inside the paint in the final seconds, but neither would fall and the game headed to overtime.
In the extra period, UHA took control, scoring the first six points, and then was able to fend off the Lady Tigers the rest of the way.
Leavell led UHA with 32 points in the contest. Lily Hendricks added 11. Jacey Jaggers led the Caldwell County effort with 19 points, including four 3-pointers. Bella McConnell added 18 point, while Peyton Young had 10.
UHA improves to 8-9, while Caldwell County falls to 10-6. The Lady Blazers last advanced to the All A State Tournament in January 2015, where they lost to Leslie County. Leavell and Alex Juckett were on the Lady Blazers roster during that season.
