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KINGSPORT—Jefferson County’s run through the postseason has come to an end after District 2-4A regular season champion Sevier County dealt the Lady Patriots a 58-45 setback Monday night in the semifinals of the Region 1-4A Tournament at the Tribe Athletic Complex.

The Lady Patriots finished fourth in the district so to make it to regional semis shows they played some of their best basketball at the end. They won the district tournament and notched a first-round victory in the region.

However, a bad shooting night and some costly turnovers brought the run to an end just one game short of a sub-state berth.

Jefferson County had defeated the Bearettes in the district semifinals but never had the lead in Monday’s loss that ended its season at 20-12. Sevier County, now 24-7, will be seeking its third straight region championship on Wednesday against Daniel Boone. Boone topped West Ridge, 68-62, on Monday.

The Bearettes used a balanced scoring attack for the victory with Kinley Loveday and Cybil Penland scoring 13 apiece to lead the way. Aubree Laney added a dozen and Hailey Williams scored 10 and grabbed nine rebounds.

Makenzie Alvey paced the Lady Patriots with 12 and Madi Hawk chipped in 11 despite making just one basket before the fourth quarter.

Lewis said, “They made shots and we didn’t make them tonight. That was the big difference.”

The Bearettes had a 31-19 rebounding edge and Lewis also felt that was a key factor. “All season long, rebounding has been our problem and tonight we just gave them way too many second chance points. We also had some costly turnovers.

“We had turnovers at critical times in the game that we didn’t need to have,” he said. “We had their lead down to five and we had three possessions in a row where we didn’t even get a shot.”

Lewis continued, “Sevier County did a great job tonight. They played us man-to-man and we didn’t play well. It just wasn’t our night.

“We made a run through the tournament,” he added. “We battled through a lot of adversity with injuries and stuff but we got hot when we needed to. But the girls kept working and having to play the other girls helped them to get better and make us stronger at the end.

“For the girls to pull off what they did last week was something we knew they could do. There was a lot of parity in our district and the seeding didn’t make much difference.

Lewis closed by saying, “I love this team. I enjoyed every single day of being with this team. For one because of their effort and because they’re great young ladies. They have no quit in them and I think that showed. They played hard and did that tonight.”

Sevier County wound up shooting 47.5 percent from the floor by making 19 of 40. The Bearettes were 5 of 11 on three-point tries and made 15 of 19 free throws including a perfect 10 of 10 in the fourth quarter when Jefferson County had to foul.

The Lady Patriots were 18 of 43 for 42.9 percent and made 3 of 11 from behind the arc.

After the teams traded baskets to start the game, Sevier County scored five straight points. Maddie Richardson hit a basket and Hawk made a triple to knot the score.

However, Penland knocked down a three and the Bearettes never trailed again. Carsyn Loveday hit two free throws to give the winners a 16-10 lead at the first break.

A basket by Alvey and two charity tosses by Kamry Bolin cut the spread to two and the Lady Patriots finally caught up on a three by Brooke Satterfield and a free throw by Alvey that made it 18-18.

Kinley Loveday then hit two free throws and Laney fired through a three and the Bearettes went on to lead 25-20 at halftime.

Jefferson scored five straight to pull within two before Penland pumped in another triple. Adalyn Arnstrom had a basket for the Lady Patriots but Kinley Loveday and Penland both made triples to highlight a 10-2 spurt that put the Bearettes in charge at 42-31.

It was 44-33 going into the fourth frame and Kinley Loveday scored the first basket. The Lady Patriots got buckets from Richardson and Caroline Loveday to pull within nine but the Bearettes closed it out at the free throw line and led by as many as 58-41 down the stretch.