Region Champs!!!
Photo by Mike Stanley
Jefferson County Post Sports
They say when you step to the free throw line with the game on the line, there isn’t very many things in life that are more difficult,which makes what Ryleigh Fritz did on Sunday afternoon that much more impressive. The freshman guard went 6 of 6 from the free throw line over the final 2 minutes of the Region Championship game and the Lady Patriots defeated Morristown West, 53-45.
“What a freshman” Head Coach Rick Sinard said of his cold blooded guard, “People don’t know what that’s like out there. What a heart on her. I am so proud of her.”
The game was the 4th meeting of the season between the Lady Patriots and Morristown West, and for the 4th time this season the game did not disappoint anyone. Margin of victory in the 4 games this season averaged 6 points per game, with Jefferson County defeating Morristown West 3 times.
Coach Sinard says that now the two teams will cheer for one another as they both move on to state sectional games, “What a job Johnny does with that team” He added “ I hope they go down there and wear Farragut out, and I know he will be cheering for us.”
While Sinard is happy with his team, he hopes they are not done yet “Great job by our team today, everybody stepped up” He added “They stayed humble, worked hard this off season and we have achieved just one of our goals winning region.”
Jefferson County was led by Region 1-AAA tournament MVP, Tori Griffin with 18 points. Griffin averaged 21 points per game in the 3 game Region tournament. Senior Brooke Taylor added 9, while Freshman Ryleigh Fritz added 8. Julia Codispoti dumped in 7 points, while Alexandria Alder finished with 6 points before going down late in the fourth with an ankle injury.
Jefferson County(26-7) now advances to the Tennessee sweet 16, if you will, as there are only 16 teams remaining out of 114 class AAA schools. They will host Bearden (29-4) on Monday night at 7 pm with a shot at 2nd straight state tournament appearance on the line.
