Blair Baugus lifts Wayne County girls basketball in 1A quarterfinal win vs Dresden

MURFREESBORO − Blair Baugus made herself right at home Wednesday while leading Wayne County to a 69-48 win over Dresden in the TSSAA Class 1A girls state tournament quarterfinals.

It makes sense the sophomore and Miss Basketball candidate, who already has 1,000 career points, would be comfortable. She was in Murphy Center during the regular season when Middle Tennessee State coach Rick Insell offered her a scholarship.

It was one of several offers Baugus has received and her performance showed why she already has emerged as a top prospect. The 6-foot forward barely missed posting a triple-double while helping the Wildcats (35-0) remain unbeaten heading into Friday's semifinal against Hampton.

Baugus scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting, had 13 rebounds and eight blocks against Dresden (25-7).

The outstanding performance sort of snuck up on Baugus.

"I wasn't really aware (she was close to a triple-double), but I felt like I played pretty evenly the whole game," she said. "It wasn't like in one quarter I was getting a bunch or points or in another I was getting a bunch rebounds. I wasn't really aware until I looked up at the scoreboard and saw what I had."

MTSU isn't the only NCAA Division I offer Baugus already has secured. Tennessee Tech has also offered along with Lipscomb, Chattanooga, UT Martin and several others.

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"I love it," Baugus said when asked how she was handling the attention she already is receiving from colleges. "I think it's exciting going to all the different places. I love seeing the campuses and it's going to be really hard to choose because I really like them all."

Dresden didn't like anything about having to try to stop Baugus.

She had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocks at halftime when Wayne County was up 32-22, and then scored eight out of the Wildcats' 10 points during a stretch that ended early in the fourth quarter when they put the game out of reach at 61-35.

"We haven't faced a lot of really good post players like (Baugus)," Dresden coach Jonathan West said. "The last time we played someone probably like her was maybe against Huntington back in early December or late November. So you had to do things different than what we've had to do against other teams. She had 23 points on 9-of-12, so we didn't do a very good job of limiting her touches."

Baugus averages 18 points a game. It was the second time this season she has had eight blocks. Wayne County had a total of 10 blocks as a team to Dresden's one.

Lauren Bryant, on her 18th birthday, added 16 points for Wayne County, Alexis Maghielse had 11 and Jacqueline had 10 points and seven rebounds.

Lucy Curry led Dresden with 14 points and Mollie Oliver came off the bench to grab a team-high six rebounds.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.