Morristown, Triton Central to play for 50th Shelby County Girls Basketball Tournament championship

WALDRON – Emerson Lindsey missed her first seven three-point shots Thursday. The Waldron senior finally made her eighth attempt that cut Morristown’s lead to 35-33 with 22 seconds left in the opening semifinal game of the 50^th Annual Shelby County Girls Basketball Tournament.

The Mohawks got a break when Jayla Keithley missed two free throws at the other end but the junior hustled down a loose ball rebound and was fouled again.

This time she hit both free throws to seal a 37-33 win to put the Yellow Jackets into Saturday’s championship game.

Keithley finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals. She hit a pair of 3s in the opening quarter and quickly pushed the Yellow Jackets to a 16-6 lead.

Keithley added a third 3 in the second quarter and the advantage grew to 23-10 at halftime.

A Katie Theobald 3 midway through the third quarter extended Morristown’s lead to 32-14 before Waldron finally found an offensive rhythm.

The Mohawks (5-8) went on an 8-0 run and cut the Yellow Jackets’ lead to 34-22 going to the fourth quarter.

Morristown (8-7) struggled to score over the final eight minutes, and Waldron went on another 8-0 run capped off by Lindsey’s long-range bomb.

The Yellow Jackets prevailed without making a field goal in the fourth quarter. Keithley hit 3 of 6 free throws to provide just enough points.

Brooklyn Milbourn scored nine of her team-high 11 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds for a double-double. Jackie Corlett finished with eight points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Theobald had eight points and five rebounds for Morristown.

Triton Central 66, Southwestern 10

Class 2A, No. 9 Triton Central raced out to 17-0 lead and cruised into Saturday’s championship game.

Maryrose Felling scored 27 points and surpassed her brother’s TC boys basketball career scoring record in the second quarter. She now has 1,565 points and needs 138 more points to break the girls basketball career scoring record of 1,702 points set by Samantha Dewey in 2015.

Quinn King finished with 11 points, seven assists and five steals. Kate Collier added nine points and three rebounds.

Bryla Dunbar led Southwestern (2-15) with four points.

The championship game between Morristown (8-7) and Triton Central (11-3) is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Waldron High School.

The Yellow Jackets lost to Triton Central, 61-19 on Nov. 26.

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