It has been a long time in the history of District 8-AA that a 5th seeded team going into the district tournament made an appearance in the district tournament championship game and won the region tournament championship game but the Cannon County Lionettes accomplished that feat Friday night with a thrilling 50-45 victory over the Central Magnet Tigerettes. Cannon was actually seeded 2nd in the region tournament after earning victories in the district against Smith and Livingston. The championship game was canceled due to weather. The Lionettes didn’t skip a beat blowing out Bledsoe County in the first round of the region and then they took care of Upperman to earn their way to the first place game and the opportunity to continue their postseason run with a game in the sectionals. The Lionettes got out to a lead by as many as 18 before a big run in the third quarter put Magnet right back in it. The Lionettes however recovered in the fourth quarter and connected on several important free throws to secure the win. Kelli Davis, the Region Tournament MVP, scored 4 three point baskets in the second quarter en route to her game high 20 points. The Lionettes improve to 24-9 on the year and win number 25 means they are in the state tournament. The Lionettes next game will be Monday at Robert A Harris Gymnasium as they host the loser of the Sequoyah and McMinn Central Region 3-AA basketball championship which will be played Saturday night. It’s the Lions turn to collect their region championship as Friday night the Lions traveled to Dunlap to participate in the semifinal round against Notre Dame. Notre Dame led most of the way in the first half but Cannon used a big run in the second half to overtake the high school Fighting Irish and win 77-65. Cannon will now play in the region championship game against Livingston Academy Saturday night at 7:00 at Sequatchie County High School. You can catch that game on AM-1540/FM 96.7 WBRY streaming online live at wbry.com or through your smart phones and tablets through WBRY by using the TuneInRadio app.
