Jacelyn Stone leads Meigs County girls to Best of Preps title

Lady Tigers win Times Free Press basketball tournament for first time

Signal Mountain's Jaylah Hardy dribbles as Meigs County's Jacelyn Stone defends during the Best of Preps basketball tournament's girls' championship game Saturday night at Chattanooga State.
Signal Mountain's Jaylah Hardy dribbles as Meigs County's Jacelyn Stone defends during the Best of Preps basketball tournament's girls' championship game Saturday night at Chattanooga State.

The chip on her shoulder might be bigger than she is, but it has motivated Meigs County point guard Jacelyn Stone to become big in the clutch.

Sensing her team needed a shot of adrenaline Saturday night, the 5-foot-3 sophomore provided just that, sparking a third-quarter scoring run that helped lift the Lady Tigers to the Times Free Press Best of Preps girls' basketball tournament championship with a 49-46 victory over Signal Mountain at Chattanooga State.

It was the second straight game Meigs (14-2) needed a second-half rally to win and earned the program its first BOP title.

"I've been short all my life, and it's definitely put a chip on my shoulder to prove myself," said Stone, who scored nine of her team-high 14 points in the third quarter and earned tournament MVP honors. "I use it to my advantage because most people don't expect me to be able to do what I do.

"We knew that we had been down and came back in our semifinal game, so we didn't panic. I felt like we needed some momentum, so I tried to make something happen for my team in the third quarter, and I think it helped get us going."

The two teams in the girls' final mirrored each other with youthful rosters - neither has a senior in its rotation, and the Lady Eagles (10-9) start four sophomores.

Signal never trailed until the Lady Tigers put together a 10-1 run that began with 2:23 left in the third. Jaci Powell got things going with a 3-pointer and Stone followed with seven straight points to close out the quarter, including a layup with 1:40 left to give Meigs its first lead of the game.

The Lady Tigers, who had lost in the tournament title game twice previously, continued to carry the momentum into the fourth quarter, pulling ahead by 11 on Kassidy Kenny's 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining. However, Signal responded with a 10-0 run of its own to pull within 45-44 with 47 seconds remaining, and the Lady Eagles again got within one with 17 seconds to go on Olivia Koontz's layup.

But Meigs hit two of four free throws in the closing seconds and didn't allow Signal to get off another shot.

"They kept us stretched out across the court early with their zone, and we were shooting 3s from NBA distance," Lady Tigers coach Jason Powell said. "I told Jacelyn we needed to start getting to the basket, and even though she's only 5-3, she's fearless. She would drive and either find an open shooter or hit a big shot and that really got us the momentum we needed.

"She's our catalyst, no question about it. She handles the ball well and sees the whole floor and is just super savvy."

Koontz, who was named to the all-tournament team, led all scorers with 20 points for the Lady Eagles. Kenny and Powell each finished with 13 points for Meigs, and Powell connected on four 3-pointers. Both of those Lady Tigers also earned spots on the all-tournament team.

"We knew it would be a battle because Signal Mountain is really good," Powell added. "I really like what I've seen out of our team this week, just the way we keep fighting no matter what. This is a really big win for us, and hopefully it's something we can build on for the rest of the season."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.

photo Meigs County's Anna Crowder shoots over Signal Mountain's Jaylah Hardy during the Best of Preps basketball tournament's girls' championship game Saturday night at Chattanooga State.

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