Angela Rohling 1-2 0-0 2, Rachel Derrick 1-7 0-0 3, Katie Dean 2-8 0-0 6, Katie Carter 1-6 0-0 2, Christi Binkley 2-5 4-4 8, Lyndsey Warbington 1-5 0-0 2, Christina Whitley 1-6 0-0 3, Katie Eadler 0-2 0-0 0, Tiffany Conner 0-1 2-4 2, Stephanie Piansay 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-42 6-8 28.

BRIARCREST CHRISTIAN (48)

Bridget Graf 4-11 1-3 9, Ashley Earley 5-14 4-4 15, Stacey Rochette 2-6 0-0 4, Laura Mitchell 2-6 3-4 9, Julie Rose 2-5 7-8 11, Andrea Webb 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Gilland 0-0 0-0 0, Danielle Bates 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-43 15-19 48.

3-point goals: Father Ryan 4-13 (Dean 2, Derrick 1, Whitley 1), Briarcrest Christian 3-12 (Mitchell 2, Earley 1). Fouled out:: None. Rebounds: Father Ryan 37 (Binkley 10), Briarcrest Christian 27 (Earley 14). Assists: Father Ryan 3 (Rohling 2), Briarcrest Christian 5 (Rose 2). Total fouls: Father Ryan 14, Briarcrest Christian 10 Attendance:: 1,500.

Memphis’ Briarcrest Christian, clad in its traditional green, gold and white uniforms, took home the big gold basketball championship trophy, winning the first TSSAA Division II State Basketball Tournament title with a convincing 48-28 win over Father Ryan of Nashville in the final.

It was the school’s first TSSAA state championship, and it capped off a perfect season for the Lady Saints, who rolled to a 33-0 record this season.

Briarcrest Christian took home the title by relying on the same weapons that it has throughout the season – solid defense, good guard play and the talent of 5-foot-10 freshman forward Ashley Earley.

Briarcrest forced Ryan, 29-5, into 21 turnovers, limited the Lady Irish to 21.4% (9 of 42) shooting from the field and held Ryan scoreless for more than six minutes at the close of the game.

And, then, therre was Earley. Named the tourney’s Most Valuable Player, the versatile young freshman led all players in today’s game in scoring (15 points) and rebounds (14, 10 on the defensive end).

Briarcrest senior guard Julie Rose, whose outstanding play has been the constant for the Lady Saints this season, added 11 points.

Ryan had no double-digit scorers in the game. Senior Christi Binkley was the offensive leader with eight points.

Bridget Graf 4-6 2-2 10, Ashley Earley 6-14 6-7 22, Stacey Rochette 1-4 8-11 10, Laura Mitchell 3-8 2-2 10, Julie Rose 2-2 0-0 4, Andrea Webb 0-1 0-0 0, Allison Gilland 0-1 2-3 2, Laurie Bevell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-36 20-25 58.

BRENTWOOD ACADEMY (48)

Lizzie Urmy 1-4 3-5 5, Kim Couch 1-6 3-4 6, Alicia Miller 0-1 2-2 2, Danna Simpson 7-18 9-12 23, Fran Goodwin 4-13 3-4 12, Kim Martin 0-0 0-0 0, Kristen Ramsey 0-0 0-0 0, Gail Dunn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-42 20-27 48.

3-point goals: Briarcrest 6-16 (Earley 4-9, Mitchell 2-7), Brentwood Academy 2-12 (Couch 1-5, Simpson 0-2, Martin 1-5). Fouled out: Brentwood Academy, Urmy, Couch. Rebounds: Briarcrest 29 (Earley 10), Brentwood Academy 28 (Urmy, Simpson 10). Assists: Briarcrest 8 (B. Graf, Rose 2), Brentwood Academy 5 (Urmy, Simpson 2). Total fouls: Briarcrest 20, Brentwood Academy 20. Attendance: 1,342.

And, the Briarcrest Christian girls today became the first team to be assured that it will take home a title game trophy.

The Lady Saints, 32-0 and ranked No. 1 in the state in Division II, advanced to the championship game with a 58-48 victory over Brentwood Academy.

Braircrest led by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, but saw that lead diminish down to four points in the last half.

Freshman Ashley Earley paced Briarcrest with 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

BA’s leader was Danna Simpson with 23 points and 10 boards.

Angela Rohling 1-3 1-2 3, Katie Carter 3-6 1-3 7, Christi Binkley 1-4 0-0 2, Rachel Derrick 4-5, 0-0 10, Katie Dean 7-10 2-2 21, Katie Eadler 0-1 0-0 0, Lyndsey Warbington 0-1 0-0 0, Christina Whitley 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 17-31 4-7 46.

HARDING ACADEMY (44)

Melanie Kent 0-1 0-0 0, Heather Lawrence 4-8, 6-9 14, Crystal Howard 4-12 1-4 9, Brooke White 2-6 0-0 6, Angela Wallace 5-8 0-0 15, Susan Turman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 15-35 7-13 44.

3-point goals: Father Ryan 8-12 (Dean 5, Derrick 2, Whitley 1), Harding Academy 7-16 (Wallace 5, White 2). Fouled out:: None. Rebounds: Father Ryan 18 (Carter 5), Harding Academy 22 (Lawrence 10). Assists: Father Ryan 14 (Derrick 5), Harding Academy 12 (Wallace 4). Total fouls: Father Ryan 15, Harding Academy 11 Attendance 531

The Lady Irish, down seven points with a little over five minutes to play, battled back from its deficit to shade Harding Academy 46-44 on Friday night and advance into today’s 1 p.m. championship game against unbeaten Briarcrest Christian School.

Despite winning the Middle Tennessee Region title last week, the Irish struggled to overtake Harding, due in large part to the 15-point outing by Harding guard Angela Wallace. Wallace had five 3-pointers in the game.

"I’ve seen them three times, and she’s never shot that well," Ryan Coach Jinx Cockerham said after her team pushed its record to 29-4.

Ryan had its own 3-point weapon in junior guard Katie Dean, who also hit three points and finished as the game’s leading scorer with 21 points.

Harding Academy, the third-pace team in the West Tennessee Region, closed out its season at 23-10

Lizzie Urmy 6-7 1-1 14, Kim Couch 5-15 0-1 14, Alicia Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Danna Simpson 4-9 1-2 9, Fran Goodwin 2-12 1-2 6, Kim Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-14, 3-6 43.

THE BAYLOR SCHOOL (29)

Andrea Shipley 1-1 0-0 2, Aslynn Johnson 3-9 1-3 10, Abby Studer 2-5 0-0 4, Lindsey Harris 0-7, 1-2 1, Brooke West 3-9 2-3 8, Emily Scarbrough 0-0 0-0 0, Christy Nunley 0-1 0-0 0, Robyn Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Laura Dugan 0-0 0-0 0, Kayce Smith 2-4 0-2 4, Kaki McLachlan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-36 4-10 29.

Half: Brentwood Academy 20, The Baylor School 8. 3-point goals: Brentwood Academy 6-19 (Couch 4-12, Urmy 1-1, Simpson 0-1, Goodwin 1-5), The Baylor School 3-16 (A. Johnson 3-8, Studer 0-1, Harris 0-3, West 0-4). Fouled out:: Brentwood Academy (Miller). Rebounds: Brentwood Academy 34 (Couch 9), The Baylor School (Harris 6). Assists: Brentwood Academy 9 (Goodwin 6), The Baylor School 3 (West 3). Total fouls: Brentwood Academy 13, The Baylor School 12. Attendance: 1,200.

But, it wasn’t pretty.

"I’ve said before that our team may not always play well, but we always play hard," first-year Eagle coach Steve Shipley said.

"We didn’t play that well today, but we did play hard."

The win pushes BA into Friday’s semifinal game of the TSSAA Division II State Basketball Tournament against the winner of tonight’s Harpeth Hall-Briarcrest Christian game. That semifinal game is set for 1 p.m. at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Baylor started slowly, falling behind 10-1 at the end of the first period and never recovered. The Red Raiders did make a strong comeback, though, pulling to within three points (26-23) with 2:31 left in the third period.

BA was paced by Lizzie Urmy and Kim Couch, who hit for 14 points each. Couch also had nine rebounds.

Baylor’s only double-digit scorer was Aslynn Johnson with 10.

Megan Youngblood 5-8 2-2 13, Caroline Coles 3-4 0-1 7, Meg Fox 1-7 0-3 2, Megan Campbell 1-2 0-0 3, Brie Brown 1-5 1-2 3, Tricia McWilliams 0-1 0-0 0, Beth Kain 0- 0-0 0, Sloan Curtis 0-0 0-1 0, Tiffany Watson 0-0 0-0 0, Lisa Housholder 2-3 0-1 4, Jessica Betts 1-2 1-2 3, Sara Glassford 1-2 0-0 2, Allegra Marks 0-0 2-4 2. Totals 15-35 6-16 39

BRIARCREST CHRISTIAN (59)

Bridget Graf 4-7 2-2 10, Ashley Earley 5-14 4-5 16, Stacey Rochette 6-9 0-0 12, Laura Mitchell 1-4 0-0 2, Julie Rose 5-7 0-0 10, Laurie Bevelle 0-2 0-0 0, Julie Black 0-0 0-0 0, Allison Gilland 3-4 0-0 6, Lisa Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Carrie Graf 0-0 0-0 0, Andrea Webb 1-1 1-3 3. Totals 25-48 7-10 59.

Halftime score: Briarcrest Christian 25, Harpeth Hall 15. 3-point goals: Harpeth Hall (3-7 (Youngblood 1, Coles 1, Campbell 1), Briarcrest Christian 2-16 (Earley 2). Fouled out:: Harpeth Hall (None), Briarcrest Christian (Rochette). Rebounds: Harpeth Hall 24 (Coles 6), Briarcrest Christian (Earley 7). Assists: Harpeth Hall 10 (Fox 3), Briarcrest Christian 14 (Earley 4, Rose 4). Total fouls: Harpeth Hall 9, Briarcrest Christian 18. Attendance: 1,400.

And it did so largely because of a freshman – 5-10 forward Ashley Earley.

Earley, who scored a game-high 16 points, was also the game leader in rebounds (7) and tied for the lead in assists (4) with senior point guard Julie Rose.

Briarcrest, the West Tennessee Region Champion, didn’t start well, though. It managed just a 4-2 lead after the first period before going in front 25-15 at the break.

"I don’t think we’ve scored that low a number of points in any quarter this season," Coach Hugh Freeze said. "We got in foul trouble and had too many of our scorers on the bench."

Harpeth Hall’s Megan Youngblood was her team’s top scorer with 13 points.

Angela Wallace 2-8 4-5 9, Heather Lawrence 3-6 5-10 11, Crystal Howard 3-14 3-6 9, Brooke White 3-4 2-5 11, Susan Turman 0-0 0-0 0, Tenisha Clemmons 1-1 0-0 2, Ashley Jones 0-0 0-0 0.Totals 12-33 14-26 42.

GIRLS PREPARATORY SCHOOL (38)

Jackie McClain 2-8 4-6 8, Charlene Johnson 0-3 0-2 0, Alana Smith 5-9 7-9 12, Ellen Davis 1-8 0-0 2, Millie Henry 3-14 0-0 7, Angela Cosgrove 0-1 0-0 0, Tommi Paris 1-2 2-2 4, Bekah Mason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-45 13-19 38.

3-point goals: Harding Academy 4-10 (White 3, Wallace 1), GPS 1-6 (Henry 1). Fouled out: Harding Academy (None), GPS (Davis). Rebounds: Harding Academy 31 (Lawrence 14), GPS (Smith 11). Assists: Harding Academy 7 (Howard 4), GPS 5 (Henry 3). Total fouls: Harding Academy 12, GPS 34. Attendance: 600

After earning a trip to this year’s TSSAA Division II State Basketball Tournament, the Lady Lions didn’t want to make it a short trip.

They didn’t.

Today they withstood the challenge of facing the East Tennessee Region champion, turning back Girls Preparatory School 42-38 to advance into the semifinal round.

And they won when — SUPRISE — Heather Lawrence hit three crucial free throws down the stretch.

"I’ve been a horrible free-throw shooter all season long," the 5-10 junior forward said.

"I’ve been working on it a lot in practice because I knew that I’d have to make some (for us to win)."

The work paid off as Lawrence went 5-10 on free throws, part of her 11-point, 14-rebound effort.

Generally, Harding had trouble on free throws (14-26) but overcame that for the win despite 17 points by GPS’ Alana Smith.

Angela Rohling 2-5 0-0 4, Katie Carter 14-16 0-0 28, Christi Binkley 4-9 1-2 9, Rachel Derrick 3-6 0-2 6, Katie Dean 3-6 1-2 10, Katie Eadler 1-4 0-2 2, Christina Whitley 0-3 0-0 0, Stephanie Plansay 0-0 0-0 0, Tiffany Conner 1-2 1-2 3, Kelly Fitzgerald 0-2 0-0 0, Kristen Tessar 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 29-55 3-10 64.

ST. BENEDICT AT AUBURNDALE (37)

Stephanie Bird 2-3 1-2 5, Natalie Bingham 0-4 1-2 1, Bridget Bradshaw 2-6 1-5 5, Julia Gagliano 4-5 2-2 11, Cindy Hammond 4-10 4-7 13, Melissa Cobb 0-1 0-0 0, Nikki Keltz 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Sypult 0-1 2-2 2, Shannon Lynch 0-0 0-2 0, Kelly Gronostaj 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-31 11-22 37.

3-point goals: Father Ryan 3-9 (Dean 3), St. Benedict 2-5 (Gagliano 1, Hammond 1). Fouled out:: None. Technical fouls: Ryan bench (scorebook infraction). Rebounds: Father Ryan 31 (Rohling 5, Binkley 5, Eadler 5), St. Benedict 26 (Bradshaw 6). Assists: Father Ryan 16 (Derrick 4, Conner 4), St. Benedict 5 (Hammond 2, Gagliano 2). Total fouls: Father Ryan 15, St. Benedict 11. Attendance: 900

The Fighting Irish, 28-4, sprinted to an 18-4 lead in the opening period and stretched it to 40-9 at the half against the undermanned Lady Eagles.

Leading a parade of eight players who scored for Ryan was 6-foot junior forward Katie Carter, who hit 14 of 16 shots from the field for 28 points in the one-sided game. Her remarkable percentage was part of a 29 of 55 (52.7%) shooting night for Ryan.

Katie Dean added 10 points for the Irish, gunning in a trio of 3-point goals and Rachel Derrick handed out a game-best four assists, as Ryan advanced into Friday night’s semifinal round against Harding Academy of Memphis. That 8 p.m. is slated for Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

St. Benedict, 21-9 and the West Tennessee Region runner-up, was paced in scoring by Cindy Hammond (13 points) and Bridget Bradshaw (11).