Lady Patriots secure perfect IMAC season with 41-20 win over Sevier County

“That win made us 12-0 in the league, and that’s hard to do,” Jefferson County coach Rick Sinard said. “I am just happy for the kids. They’re IMAC champions, and they earned their number one seed.”

With the win, Jefferson County improved to 21-4 overall on the year. As has been the case for much of the second half of the season, the Lady Patriots were led by Alexa Gramann who had 15 points. Madee Denton added 11 while Makayla Alvey had six.

Sinard’s team has relied on their defense for much of the season, and it has yet to let him down. Friday night’s performance was the fifth straight win they have allowed less than 30 points and the eighth game total.

“All in all, we got after them good,” Sinard said. “I thought we did a decent job with out defense. We did a good job of guarding people. We just kept plugging away. I am happy with the way it ended up. We brought our team, and we came to play.”

It was an odd week for the Lady Patriots who didn’t practice for three straight days with school being closed. To make matters worse, starter Cayla Smith was out with the flu. In her place, Tara Scales started for Jefferson County and played well. The sophomore had four points in the game and did a good job controlling the offense.

“I thought Tara played well,” Sinard said. “She did a good job of coming in and running our offense tonight. We’re going to have to have Tara (in postseason play).”

Sevier County falls o 12-10 with the loss and 6-5 in conference play. Mackenna Loveday led the Bearettes with eight points. Shelby Rolen added four. Sevier County travels to South Doyle on Monday for their final conference game.

Kali McMahan got the scoring going to start the game, and Denton hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Patriots an early 5-0 lead. However, Sevier County hit them back and went ahead 6-5 late in the quarter. But that was the last time they led. Alvey finished off the quarter in style, draining a shot from just past the half-court line to extend the lead to 10-6.

It was all Gramman in the second quarter for Jeff County as she scored six of their nine points. The defense held their own, allowing just five points and taking a 19-11 lead into the half. Scoring was at a premium in the third quarter with 10 points scored combined. The Bearettes had just three points in the quarter while Gramman had five for the Lady Patriots.

Offense finally took over in the fourth as Jefferson Count scored 15, pulling away for the 21-point win.

Jefferson County will be back in action on Thursday against Northview Academy, closing out their season. Northview is one of the Lady Patriots’ four losses this season.

“We just have to keep trying to get better each day,” Sinard said. “You’re down here towards the end of the season and days off are probably more important than days on. We just have to keep it all going.”